


A Miraculous Chirstmas Kiss

by nolly47



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Ladrien briefly, Slow Burn, based off a movie, multi-chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-14 16:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13011633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nolly47/pseuds/nolly47
Summary: Marinette is working to get her dream job. But in order to someday work in the fashion industry she has to stay on the good side of her boss, Chloe. After a spontaneous kiss with a stranger in an elevator, things get immensely more complicated. And Marinette begins to struggle with keeping her work life and her personal life separated.This is heavily based off of the movie 'A Christmas Kiss.' It is on Netflix if you want to watch it!





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am finally done with finals, and have been planning on writing this long form for about a month. I'm super excited to finally be able to write again! I will try my absolute hardest to get this done before I go back to school.
> 
> Also a huge thanks to my friend who helped me figure out some of the details for making this AU work. Happy Birthday, my dear!

Christmas in Paris.   
The city of lights was filled with more lights than seemed possible around the holidays. The Galeries Lafayette was decorated to the nines. There was a fine blanket of snow that had become a permanent fixture of the streets. The matching dusting up on the rooftops completed the absolutely picturesque scenery of the city. And of course there was the fashion. Cold weather clothes were the best, after all. Marinette loved Christmas time, and she loved wandering the city in the winter.

Today though, Marinette wasn’t in the main part of the city anymore. She was closer to the outer limits where the buildings were more spread out. When the shops weren’t crammed together as they were in the heart of the city, it made such a drastic difference that Marinette took her time strolling by all the businesses and stopping to admire the window displays in boutiques. 

She checked her watch one more time and seeing that Alya would be out of her meeting any minute, she quickened her pace for the last two blocks before a very familiar and ornate building came into view. The Miraculous Theater.

Marinette took in the view before her. The whole building was white stone, crowned with masterfully sculptured angels and Grecian figures. The five mahogany doors were all adorned with wreaths while the six massive columns marking the main entrance had all been wrapped with garlands. It wasn’t dark enough for them to be turned on yet, but Marinette knew the trees on either side of the building were already strung with thousands of sparkling lights. 

Marinette walked to the side of the building. The right side of the building didn’t have any Christmas decorations, instead, it was draped with massive banners that advertised the upcoming show, THE NUTCRACKER. 

The old theater had been her home once upon a time. She had spent most of her free time there through college and several years after. She had designed costumes for all sorts of shows. To most people, it would seem an uncountable number, but Marinette remembered every single show. She had very fond memories of this building, and it still stung when she thought about having left the theater world behind, but it was a bittersweet pain. Now she was finally moving up in the fashion world. 

She had been extremely fortunate to land the current job she had, even if she didn’t always feel lucky. She was grateful though, of course she was. How could she not be thankful to be working under the most famous personal shopper in Paris, maybe all of France. At times though, most of the time, it felt like she was little more than a lapdog for her boss, Chloe Bourgeois. She was Chloe’s personal assistant and number two. Marinette was hopeful that soon she would get to actually begin taking on some of the clients on her own. From there, she could network and build clients of her own. No, she didn’t want to stay a personal shopper the rest of her life, but Chloe’s line of work often crossed paths with dozens of high profile fashion houses. Ones that she dreamed to work at. This was the first step towards her dreams.

Even so, she knew this theater would always hold a part of her heart. She took one more lungful of the crisp winter air before stepping in through the stage door. 

The first thing that hit her, as it always did, was the smell. The scent of paint, hairspray, and sawdust always shocked her system. It surprised her how something that changed so often could always manage to smell the same. 

Marinette turned left to walk on stage. The show was still a month away from opening, so the set pieces were still coming together, but this was her favorite time of production. Not the full show put together like a well-oiled machine, but seeing all the work and love that went into building the machine. Set builders, prop coordinators, and lighting technicians were all busy trying to transform the stage into a magical scene. 

As Marinette crossed the stage, she watched the dancers stretch and go through warmups in preparation for rehearsal. She spun to watch a rack of costumes be wheeled by, trying to see if they would be reusing any of her old creations this year. Before she could turn back, her feet tripped over a cable running across the ground. She fell backwards with her arms wheeling and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Instead of a hard wooden stage though, she landed in someone’s outstretched arms. 

Marinette peeled her eyes open and squealed with delight at the sight of Nino. She quickly righted herself before throwing her arms around her long time friend who quickly returned the hug. 

Nino began working at the theater a few years ago, right when they were both out of university. He had a part time job at a DJ studio, and he spent the rest of his time as the sound technician at the Miraculous Theater. Even though sound and costume workers didn’t normally cross paths often, they became fast friends over their shared work ethic. They would often be the last people in the building, and Nino would bring his laptop and take out back to Marinette’s old office. The company had made it easier to get through the repetitive, late night stitching. She had even introduced him to Alya, and they had been a steady couple for two years now. Marinette released her vice-like grip to pull back and look at him. 

“You grew a beard,” she exclaimed, reaching out to tweak the newly sprouted hairs.   
“Yeah, I’m not sure if I like it though. It’s really itchy.”  
“It suits you,” she insisted.  
“Thanks. What are you doing here? Man, we must have been doing My Fair Lady the last time you stopped by here.”  
“Oh, yeah,” the girl shrugged. “Busy with work, you know?”  
“Ah, yes. How is the new position as a flying monkey going these days,” the boy teased.  
“Chloe’s not that bad.”   
Nino raised an eyebrow at her. The designer only rolled her eyes.  
“I’m here to see Alya. She’s supposed to be figuring out final details with the stage manager to see if she can actually write that piece.”  
“Oh, right. I should have guessed you wouldn’t come all the way out here just to see little ol’ me.”  
“Oh, hush. We had lunch a week and a half ago,” she said as she pushed his shoulder slightly.  
“Just playin’. Come on, Al’s back this way. She should be getting out any sec.”

Nino led her through the house of the theater. They pushed through the doors that the audience entered from and passed across the lobby area. The main offices were nestled in the corner of the lobby, but Alya was nowhere in sight. The two decided to rest against a nearby wall as they waited for the meeting to end. 

It only took a few minutes before a very pleased looking Alya walked out of the office and shook hands with someone Marinette couldn’t see. After she turned away, Alya spotted them immediately and nearly skipped over to them. 

“Guess who will be the very first reporter in history to get full back-stage access at the Miraculous Theater!”  
“Congratulations, Alya,” Marinette exclaimed as she pulled her friend in for a quick hug.  
“I knew you could get it,” Nino smiled as he leaned in to kiss his girlfriend.   
Marinette fake gagged even though it was only a peck. Truthfully, she couldn’t be more pleased with her two best friends getting together, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t tease them every once in awhile.   
“I still have a lot of cues to get through today, but I’ll see you tonight,” the boy said. He spared a pointed glance between the two girls. “Very late tonight, I imagine.”  
Marinette’s brow furrowed in confusion, but before she could question what that meant, he winked and sauntered away from the two girls. 

“That was cryptic,” Marinette joked, but her smile disappeared at the sight of the devilish grin that was spread across Alya’s face. “Oh, no! I know that look. That’s the ‘I have plans, and kidnapping you if I have to’ look.” The girl took a step back from her friend.   
“It’s nothing bad,”Alya said taking a step forward to close the distance. “But, I will kidnap you if you say ‘no.’ We’re just going to have a night out on the town.” The designer opened her mouth to protest, but her friend cut her off. “Come on, Mar. When was the last time we actually got to go out for fun? Ever since you took that job working for She Who Must Not Be Named you have been way too stressed out with way too little relaxation. This will be good for you.”  
Marinette pressed her lips together before nodding slightly.  
“Ah yes! This is gonna be great. And I’m totally gonna glam you up. Just you wait, it’ll be amazing!”   
At her friend’s enthusiasm, a smile broke across Marinette’s face once again, and they both began the trek back to her apartment to get ready. 

**********

Christmas music blasted through the apartment as the two girls finished getting ready. Well Alya had already finished, but now she was working on Marinette’s makeup, and boy, was she going all out. Marinette’s dress was all red with a black lace sash across the waist. She also wore a pair of red heels that were speckled with black dots. Alya apparently had decided to stick with the ladybug-esque theme and had already used four different types of red eyeshadow on Marinette’s face. It was caked on enough that she almost couldn’t recognize herself, but still stylized enough to be elegant. Despite her friend’s protests, Alya was currently completing the look with glitter, a lot of glitter. Suddenly, Marinette’s phone ringed. She grabbed her phone off the counter and groaned upon seeing the name on Caller ID. 

“Oh, no,” Alya said. “It is 7 o’clock on a Sunday what could she possibly want that can’t wait til morning?”  
“I don’t know, but I have to, just hold on a sec.” Marinette shot her friend one last apologetic look before answering the call.

“Hello, Ms. Bourgeois.”  
“Marinette, my flight has been delayed by an hour. I need you to go to my apartment and turn on the heat. You should have the spare key.”   
It wasn’t a request, and Marinette rolled her eyes. “Of course, Ms. Bourgeois. Anything else?”  
“No. Goodbye.”  
The line ended before Marinette got a chance to say anything in response.   
“You’re welcome,” she growled into the phone. 

“What is Chloe de vil making you do this time?”  
“I just need to stop by her apartment and turn on the heat.”   
Alya pinched the bridge of her nose. “Mar, you’re not her personal slave. She can’t just make you do stupid stuff like this.”   
“Maybe not. But she can get me into the design world. She can also blacklist me from any couture house.” Her friend only shook her head in response. “Look it’s not a big deal. I can run by her house and meet you at the bar. It’ll take fifteen minutes tops.”   
“Alright girl, but let me at least finish your makeup first.”  
Marinette smiled and happily reclaimed her seat. 

**********

Marinette had made it to Chloe’s penthouse suite in the Grand Paris Hotel easily. It only took a few seconds to turn the heat up in the apartment. Before she left though, she couldn’t help but admire the place. It was beautifully furnished. The entry way was all white marble. The entrance to the main living area was framed by glass borders containing stained glass roses. There were also massive vases holding large orchids that arched gracefully. Marinette could just make out the posh pink furniture in the living area. She also knew from experience that the couches were incredibly comfortable in addition to being highly fashionable, but she didn’t want to take up anymore time away from Alya. 

She scurried from the room. Double-checking that she locked the apartment before hopping on the elevator and pressing the button for the lobby. She watched the numbers go down, stopping only a few levels down. The doors opened, and it took all of Marinette’s self control not to let her mouth pop open. 

The person that stepped on the elevator next to her was a man around her age. He had blond hair and the most gorgeous eyes she had seen. Marinette turned her head to look at him a little longer, and found his attention focused on her as well. He gave her a dashing smile that made her stomach flutter and heat rise to her cheeks. She looked down at the ground briefly, but stubbornly returned her attention to the numbers. 

“I, uh, like your makeup,” he said, startling Marinette enough to return her attention to the man.   
“Th-thank you.”   
It was his turn to blush, and he rubbed the back of his neck as he muttered, “No problem.”   
A slightly awkward silence followed, and Marinette summoned all of her courage to say something else. “My friend did it actually.”   
“Oh. What was the inspiration? Christmas-themed, I suppose.”  
“Ladybugs, actually,” she said smirking. Silence fell once again, but it was filled with a comfortable warmth this time. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the elevator jolted to a stop. 

They both looked around in vain. The man pushed the ‘door open’ button a few times without success. They were probably trapped between the tenth and ninth floors. Marinette inhaled shakily. The blond looked back to her, his brows furrowed in concern. The elevator jolted again and the cabin fell another floor or so. This time Marinette lost her balance, her heels not helping her stay upright in the slightest. Luckily, the man was fast to catch her before she could crash into a wall. 

She was still mostly upright, but his arms wrapped around her were definitely only thing keeping her standing and pressed against his chest. The lights flickered off, but not before Marinette caught sight of his eyes straying down to her lips. She shifted in his arms slightly to regain her footing, but stayed close. She raised a hand and blindly placed it against his cheek. When he didn’t pull away she leaned up slightly and covered his lips with her own. A small gasp passed his lips before his lips pressed back against hers.

Adrenaline was already coursing through her veins from the fact that they almost had (and still could) fall to their deaths, and she was surprised to find that kissing a random stranger, a gorgeous random stranger at that, hadn’t spiked her heart rate any higher. In fact, kissing him calmed her down almost. There were still butterflies in her stomach of course, but as soon as his arms relaxed to drape loosely around her waist, pulling her just that much closer, she felt safe, as ridiculous as that might sound. 

When light flooded the elevator they broke apart. They looked at each other for a second before laughing breathlessly. Marinette’s eyes drifted down to his lips, just as they began to lean in again singing broke out, and the two jumped apart.

She turned frantically to find that the light was from the main lobby of the hotel. They had been so wrapped up in each other, that they hadn’t noticed the elevator begin descending again. They had made it all the way to the first floor where a large group of carolers was now standing just outside of the elevator, and they had all probably just seen them kissing. She looked frantically over to the guy who was grinning at her. And suddenly, it was all too much.

The sense of calmness left her as the events of the last few minutes swam through her head. She had nearly died. She had kissed a gorgeous person that she had barely held one conversation with, they were caught kissing each other in front of a large group of even more strangers, and she had done all of this while wearing a mask of glitter. Her heart beat kicked up to full speed again, and she glanced between the carolers and the stranger a couple more times before slipping through the crowd in front of her and running for the hotel entrance. She heard her mystery man calling out behind her, but she was already dashing outside and running away.

********

When Marinette arrived at the bar she was about twenty minutes later than she said she would be, and slightly out of breath. She scanned the place quickly before hustling over to a corner booth where Alya was already seated with two drinks. The journalist looked in her direction as she arrived at the table, but before she could get a word in Marinette was already talking.

“You will not believe what just happened to me,” she exclaimed as she slid into the booth.   
Alya lifted an eyebrow and leaned forward to prop both elbows on the table. “Tell me everything.” And so she did. Marinette went through every excruciating detail as well as she could, her heart still fluttering. 

“And the next thing I know there are carolers surrounding us, and I just had to get out of there, so I ran.” She took a big breath and a few sips of her drink, hoping the alcohol would take some of the edge off.  
“Wait, wait. You ran?”   
“Well, yeah. It was really crazy with everything that had just happened. I needed to get out of there.”   
“At least tell me you got his number.”   
The designer looked away guiltily and tried to avoid the answer by taking another swig of her drink.  
“Marinette!”   
“I know. But there was so much happening it didn’t even cross my mind.”  
“I guess I can’t fault you for that,” Alya said, taking a sip of her own drink as well.  
“Besides it doesn’t matter. If we’re meant to be, we’ll find each other again,” she said matter-of-factly.   
Alya tilted her head and gave her a look.  
“I’m never gonna see him again am I?” Marinette groaned and let her head fall on top of her arm that was resting on the table. She picked head up quickly, remembering that she was wearing makeup and grimaced at the glitter that now coated her arm.  
“Hey,” Alya said, grabbing her hand. “You will. I’m sure of it. But for right now, let’s focus on just having a good time okay?” She squeezed her hand one more time, and Marinette couldn’t help the hopeful smile that spread on her face.


	2. Chapter Two

Marinette was woken early the next morning to her phone ringing incessantly. She groaned and rolled over to unlock the phone. She didn’t even need to check the screen to know it was Chloe calling. No one else called this early in the morning. 

She cleared her throat quickly before answering. “Hello, Ms. Bourgeois.” Her voice still sounded exhausted.  
“Marinette. Good you’re awake. I need you to come in immediately. Bring me a large coffee as well. You know how I take it.”  
“Yes, Ms. Bourg-” the line cut out before Marinette could finish. The girl groaned and fell back against the cushions. She knew if she stayed there she would fall asleep, though, so she begrudgingly rolled out of bed and headed to take a quick shower before what was sure to be a long day. 

Forty minutes later, Marinette arrived at the penthouse suite of the Grand Paris Hotel. Marinette balanced the drink carrier in one hand while she knocked on the door. She didn’t have to wait very long before the door was thrown open. 

“I am so glad you’re here. We have a major problem on our hands,” Chloe said, leaving the door open and walking away to leave Marinette standing in the doorway.   
“Good morning to you, too,” the designer grumbled under her breath as she kicked the door closed behind her. 

By the time Marinette had made it into the living area of the suite, Chloe had already settled on the pink couch. She handed the coffee to her boss before taking the armchair opposite her.  
“So, how was your trip,” Marinette asked as she pulls out a notepad and pen in preparation for the day.  
“Ugh, let’s skip the small talk. We need to focus on the emergency at hand. Oh and you won't be needing to take notes today. Your task for the day will be a little ... different than what you're used to,” Chloe added, sipping her drink. “My boyfriend is back in town, and we have a lunch date this afternoon.”  
“Oh, that's great. He travels so much, you must miss him a lot.”  
“Yes, yes. I missed him very dearly. But the real problem is that it has been far too long since he was last in town. The press has forgotten what we were like as a couple. His visit here needs to go perfectly. Starting with this lunch date. I'm trying to get him to pop the question before the end of the year so they can get the story in the papers.”   
“Oh, wow. A wedding would be wonderful. I don’t see what the problem is though.”  
“The problem is that Sabrina is out sick today, and there is no one else to fill in in her absence. That's where you come in.” Chloe stood to cross the room.   
“Wait a second. Isn’t Sabrina your maid?”  
Chloe returned with a paper clutched in her hands. “She’s an employee of mine. Just as you are. Now,” she said, handing the paper over to Marinette. “I need this list completed before noon.”  
Marinette took the paper cautiously and began reading through the list:   
Dust all surfaces  
Sweep hardwoods  
Mop entryway floor  
Polish silverware  
Pick up Sauvignon Blanc   
Redo floral arrangements  
Change linens on bed  
And it went on from there. For a page and a half. 

“Ms. Bourgeois, I really don’t think my time is best spent doing these things.”  
“Nonsense. You’re a girl of many talents. I’m sure you’ll do a great job,” the blonde brushed away the comment as she picked her purse up off the counter. “Now, I’m going to the spa to try to relax before my date. Make sure you get everything done.” And without another glance back, she left Marinette alone in the suite.

The girl sighed and looked around. “Looks like I was right about the long day.” She glanced down at the list once more. “Well, the sooner I get done, the sooner I can leave.” And with that, she got to work doing her boss’s bidding.

**********

She was just finishing the final task, setting the table for two, when the front door swung open and Chloe swept back into the room. Marinette finished straightening the forks as her boss inspected her cleaning job.   
“Hmm,” the blonde finally said. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”  
“Thank you, Ms. Bourgeois. Everything has been done according to the list. The wine is in the fridge, chilling.”  
“Excellent. Okay, you can leave. Get out of here quickly before he sees you; you’re filthy.”  
“Yes, ma’am.” Marinette hurried to pick up her coat and purse before walking towards the door, excited to leave. “I hope your date goes well,” she called as she reached the door.

Marinette pulled the door open and was about to step outside when she realized that there was a person at the door. But, not just any person. It was him. Her mystery man. His hair shined almost golden in the sun and he was even carrying flowers. Red roses. Her favorites, not that he could have known that. Speaking of…

“I-I can’t believe it. How did you find m-”  
She was cut off by Chloe’s shrill voice from behind her. “Adrikins, there you are, darling.”  
The man looked passed Marinette to Chloe, and a smile finally graced his lips.   
“Chloe, it’s wonderful to see you again.”

Marinette watched, motionless, as the man strode by her and pulled Chloe into a hug. When they pulled back from the embrace only far enough to kiss, Marinette’s stomach dropped straight to her feet. She couldn’t help but stare with her mouth gaping wide like a fish, and it was only a matter of time before Chloe noticed her.

“Oh, Adrien, this is my assistant, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was just leaving.”  
The man, Adrien, walks back in her direction and shakes her limp hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.” He smiled brightly at her, but it only made her feel worse, because while there was kindness shining in his eyes, there wasn’t even a glimmer of recognition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are still pushing through the introductory phase. The point of view will be changing between characters later on, but for now I'm still trying to set up the story, so we are sticking with Marinette. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a really hard time writing this, guys. Our internet kept cutting in and out, my health has been wack, but mostly it was kind of a lack of motivation. I write soo much more if you guys give kudos and comment. Please do!  
> In other news, we are finally done with the introductory stuff! It's all slow burn and fluff from here on out!
> 
> Merry Christmas!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating boost for the slightest of swearing.

Marinette’s brain had cut out the instant Adrien, her mystery man, and Chloe, her boss, kissed. Her mind didn’t kick back in for 30 minutes. She was running completely on auto-pilot and it somehow managed to drag her out of Chloe's suite. Once she got her bearings again, she found herself outside Alya and Nino’s apartment building.

Their apartment building was certainly one of the older ones built. The inside was nice, but the outside was in desperate need of a makeover, starting with the rusty fire escape that was certainly not up to code. Marinette leaned over and mashed the call button that usually didn't work until the fifth or sixth jab. The speaker buzzed back at her and a distorted version of Alya’s voice rang through.

“Hello?”  
“It’s me… Um… ”  
“Woah, you’re off early today. Is the Evil Queen off terrorizing another poor maiden today?”  
“Alya… something’s happened.”  
“Ooh, that doesn’t sound great. Come on up, girl.”

The door clicked, and she pulled it opened. A few flight of stairs later, Marinette made it to their floor and found Alya already standing in the doorway waiting for her. Her best friend took one look at her probably miserable expression, and pulled her into a tight hug, steering her into the apartment to settle on the couch together. Marinette kicked off her shoes and curled into Alya’s side.

“Alright, girl. You just say the word, and I will go over there and give that bitch what she has had coming to her for a lo-”  
“Alya,” Marinette reprimanded. “For once, it wasn’t Chloe.”  
“Well, why are you off so early? It’s barely two o’clock.”  
“Well, you remember my impromptu elevator kiss?”  
“Oh, is that what this is? Girl, don’t worry. Like you said, if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”  
Marinette laughed humorously. “Yeah, well it looks like it’s not meant to be. So not to be in fact, that the universe decided to smack me across the face with how much it’s not meant to be.”  
Her friend’s hand came up to stroke through her raven locks. “What happened, Mar?”  
She let out a long sigh and brought a hand up to swipe her eyes before they could form tears. She was not going to cry over this. “We saw each other again.”  
When she didn’t immediately elaborate Alya spoke again. “Shouldn’t that be a good thing?”  
“It would be if he had recognized me.” She felt Alya sigh beside her. “Or, if he wasn’t dating my boss.”  
“No!”  
Marinette shrugged. “Yeah, well like I said, looks like it’s not meant to be.”  
“Oh, I can’t believe this,” Alya seethed. “He kissed you even though he’s in a relationship?”  
“Al, calm down. And technically I kissed him.”  
“Still. God, what’s this blind idiot’s name, so I can go pound his face in for not recognizing you?”  
“No. Alya, you are not going to punch my boss’s boyfriend.”  
Her friend sniffed. “Fine, I promise not to physically harm this boy, but only because the Ice Queen would come after you for it.”  
“Thank you, Alya. His name’s Adrien Agreste. International supermodel as well as Gabriel Agreste's son. He’s literally the most unattainable person for me. So, I’ve decided not to dwell on it.”  
“Mmm, sorry babes, but that’s not how it works.”  
Marinette blew out a breath to move her bangs out of her eyes. “I know. I just wished it did, sometimes.”

The two stayed in the rest of the day. Nino came home after rehearsal was over just in time for dinner after which the three settled on the couch for a movie. Halfway through however, Marinette’s phone started ringing. Nino paused the movie for her to take the call.

“Hell, Ms. Bourgeois.” Alya groaned on the other side of the couch and Marinette gave her a helpless shrug as she listened to her boss on the other end. “No, of course I can stop by. Not a problem at all.” This time even Nino shook his head. “Okay, I’ll be there soon.”

As soon as she hung up her two friends argued and complained about her boss driving her into the ground.

“You are off the clock, Mar.”  
“I swear that witch is trying to kill you.”

“It’s only for a little while longer,” Marinette said. “I’ll be able to design on my own soon. I can get an internship or even start my own company once I get the right connections from this job.”

“We know, Mar. But none of that matters if you die of exhaustion before then,” Alya said, calmer this time.  
“I’m sorry, guys, I have to go. Thank you for letting me come over.”

**********

After getting off the elevator, Marinette trudged down the hallway to Chloe’s suite. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before knocking on the door three times. The door swung open a few seconds later to reveal a slightly disheveled Chloe. Or as disheveled as Chloe got.

She always made sure to present herself in the most professional and chique manner possible, even at nine o’clock at night, but Marinette had been working with her long enough the notice the slightly frizzy bangs and just barely smudged eyeliner. It wasn’t much, and most people wouldn’t even notice it, but the designer had spent years honing her eye to notice small details.

And based on the fact that her boss was not completely perfectly put-together, Marinette could also assume that whatever had happened had put Chloe on edge, even though she was unlikely to admit to her distress.

“Marinette, sit down. We have a lot to discuss.”  
She did as asked, and pulled out her notepad.  
“Adrien, made a proposal to me today.”  
Marinette nearly choked on air, but managed to keep the squeak from escaping her throat. “A proposal. Congratulations. Have you set a wedding date yet?” She mentally patted herself on the back for not stuttering even if her voice came out a little more raspy than could be considered normal.  
“No, not a marriage proposal. Not yet, anyway.”  
Marinette hated the way relief flooded her veins and her mind treacherously whispered ‘there’s a chance.’  
“Adrien informed me over lunch that his father, Gabriel Agreste, will be announcing in a press release tomorrow that he has designed all of the costumes for the Miraculous Theater’s version of The Nutcracker this year.”

Marinette’s eyes took on a spark of wonder at the thought. Her favorite designer would no-doubt be creating gorgeous costumes for the production, and the publicity would certainly be phenomenal for her home theater, not that the theater ever had problems attracting crowds. But, to imagine that the Gabriel Agreste would be working so closely with at Miraculous, that he might even use her old office for fittings, it was so exciting she almost vibrated with the effort of not dancing form the news. However, she knew she couldn’t fangirl in front of Chloe, so she cleared her throat carefully before daring to speak.

“That sounds amazing, but I don’t see where a proposal from your boyfriend comes in. Or me for that matter.”  
“Well, I wasn’t done talking. Obviously,” the blonde scoffed. “In addition to this production, the Agrestes will be hosting a design competition.”  
Marinette sat a little straighter at the mention of a design competition, her competitive side clawing its way to the surface.  
“Adrien will be in charge of narrowing down the designs that are entered, and then the final ten designs that are selected will be put up for auction at the Nutcracker pre-show event that the Agrestes will be hosting. The proceeds will go to charity and blah, blah, blah. Now! The important part is that this competition only allows for one week for a final product to be turned in.”  
“Wow.” Marinette looked up from her notepad where she had been frantically taking notes. “An entire outfit in a week, and I’m assuming it’s formal since it will be showcased at an Agreste function. That’s not impossible but it certainly isn’t easy.”  
“Yes, well, because of the short deadline, Adrikins is concerned that no one will enter the competition. So, he has asked me to design something for the event.”  
Marinette’s eyes bulged with the effort of not cracking a smile at the thought of Chloe designing something. “What did you say?” She asked, although based on Chloe’s imperfect state of appearance Marinette thought she might already know the answer.  
“I said yes.”  
Marinette brought her notepad up slightly to cover her smirk. Chloe did this to herself, and the designer would be more than happy to watch it all come crashing down around her. Chloe may be a highly successful personal shopper, but Marinette knew from personal experience that she couldn't design something original if her life depended on it.  
“And, one outfit I could probably do, but Adrien also mentioned that the competition allowed for three entrances per designer. So, in order to show him just how wonderful of a girlfriend I am, I will be entering three outfits, this is where you come in.”  
Marinette’s smirk immediately slid off her face.

“We need to design and sew three original outfits by the end of the week.”  
“Three outfits?! That’s impossible. One would be hard enough on its own.”  
“Don’t worry we will both be working on it, it should be completely doable.”  
Marinette bit back her retort of how she would be the only one doing any real work while Chloe ‘supervised.’  
“It will be perfectly fine. Now, go home and get a good night’s rest, we will be going to the Agreste mansion tomorrow.”  
“Th-the Agreste mansion?”  
“Yes, Adrien has been gracious enough to let us use one of the spare work rooms as he knows that I do not have room in my suite. Oh and be sure to bring breakfast and coffee. You know how I take mine, and Adrien will have a dark roast with skim milk. No sugar.”  
“Will Adrien be there in the morning?”  
“Duh. Why else would I tell you to get him coffee.”  
“Right. So, am I going to have to be working with him?”  
The blonde looked up from picking at her nails. “Is that a problem?”  
Marinette opened her mouth but no sound came out.  
“Because, if working with my future husband is a problem for you, I can have you replaced by another assistant like that.” Chloe snapped her perfectly manicured nails.  
“No, Ms. Bourgeois. It won’t be a problem at all.”  
“I should think not.” Her boss looked her over one more time. “You can show yourself out, I’ll see you tomorrow at the Agreste mansion at eight.”

Marinette hurriedly stood, stuffing her notepad into her bag as she went. Bidding good night as she swung the door closed behind her and walking down the hall. The designer shook her head before stepping into the elevator.

**********

As the elevator sank to the ground Marinette’s mind brought up the extremely unhelpful memory of her kiss with Adrien. She was so over this day. She just wanted to get home and take a nice long bath before passing out. So when the elevator stopped only a few floors down, the designer growled before the doors opened to reveal none other than Adrien-freaking-Agreste. now, she wanted nothing more than to bang her head on the side of the elevator.

Adrien stepped on and smiled at her. Marinette smiled back even though she had a feeling it probably looked a little manic.

“Hello,” he said politely, and just as he was about to face the doors he did a double-take to look at her face one more time.  
Marinette’s heartbeat picked up just a little bit. It was such a familiar position, maybe being in the elevator again had jogged his memory.  
“You’re Marinette, right?”  
Her breath left on a sigh. “Yeah,” she conceded trying to not let the disappointment show in her voice. “And you’re Mr. Agreste.”  
“Adrien, please. Coming from Chloe’s?”  
“Yes, actually. She, uh, just told me about the competition and your father’s designs for The Nutcracker.”  
Adrien nodded in response, then the two fell into silence. An incredibly uncomfortable silence, at least for her. Marinette scrambled for any kind of topic.  
“I-uh actually have a lot of ties to the Miraculous Theater, so I’m very excited that your father will be working so closely with the theater. It’s kind of my second home.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, well, I did costumes there for years. The first production was actually A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”  
“Oh, I love that one. ‘Oh, what fools these mortals be.’”  
Adrien laughed, and Marinette couldn’t help but join him. He had a contagious laugh, and she quickly decided it was something she would very much like to hear again.

The elevator dinged, and the two stepped out into the lobby. Once they stepped outside they hesitated.  
“I’m going this way,” Mariette said, pointing her thumb behind her.  
“Yeah, I’m actually that way,” Adrien replied turning slightly in the opposite direction before returning his attention to her. “Well, ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’”  
“‘That I should say good night til it be morrow,’” she recited back.  
“I’m impressed. You do know your Shakespeare. So, why did you leave theater?”  
Marinette automatically looked to the ground before quickly forcing herself to return her gaze to his face. “I don’t know. I loved it immensely of course, but designing for theater was never exactly what I wanted to do. Working with Chloe, was just…”  
“The next logical step?” Adrien offered.  
The designer smiled. “Yes, exactly.”  
“Smart choice.”  
“I guess so,” she shrugged. “Good night, Adrien.”  
“Good night, Marinette.”


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has tonsillitis! So fun. But good news, I get the next two full days to write, so hopefully I can crank out a couple more chapters! Thank you for all of the wonderful comments!

The next morning Marinette woke up early to head to her parents bakery before going to the Agreste mansion. As she entered the bakery the warmth of the ovens blanketed over her, a sharp but very welcome contrast to the crisp weather outside. The little bells twinkled above her, and her mother looked up from the counter.

“Marinette, darling, I’m so glad you came in. Tom, Marinette is here!” she called over her shoulder as she rounded the counter and pulled her daughter into a suffocating hug. “It’s been too long, dear.”  
“It’s been a week, maman,” she gasped once she was released.  
“Still too long I say. I’m guessing you’re just stopping by before work. What would you like?”  
“A basket, please.”

As Sabine turned to start getting the arrangement of treats ready, Tom appeared from the kitchen in his flour-coated apron and chef’s hat, that was completely unnecessary, but he refused to bake without it. The large man also pulled his daughter into a hug. Unlike his wife, Tom gave gentle hugs, despite his massive arms. Marinette buried her face into her father’s chest and savored the smell of yeast and sugar that always clung to him. 

“So, what brings you by our humble bakery today, ma petite?” Tom asked, pulling back to soak in his daughter’s appearance.  
“Chloe,” Sabine groaned from over by the display case where she was putting croissants in the basket. Mariette ignored her, not wanting to hear another lecture about how her boss was treating her. “asked me to pick up breakfast. She entered a design contest of sorts, and we’re supposed to start working on it today.”  
“Ooh, that sounds exciting. I know how much you love competition,” her dad commented as he took the basket from his wife and carried it for her as she finished placing a few more pastries in it.  
“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure about this one. I think I’m gonna be spending a lot of time in close quarters with Chloe’s boyfriend and him and I…” she trailed off, not thrilled with the idea of recounting her embarrassing background with Adrien. “I’m just awkward around him. He’s Adrien Agreste, Gabriel Agreste’s son. I guess I’m just intimidated.” There not a total lie.

“Mmm,” her mother hummed as she rung out the order to Chloe’s credit card. “Well, you know how much I dislike you working for Chloe Bourgeois,” Marinette cringed, waiting for the impending lecture. “ However, isn’t your defense against putting up with her that this job will give you the connections you need for when you’re a designer?”  
“Well, yes,” Marinette conceded.  
“Then wouldn’t working in close quarters with the son of your idol, the most famous designer in France, be the perfect place to start building these connections?” Tom continued, following his wife’s train of thought.

Sabine stepped out from around the counter and handed the basket over to her daughter. “You know, Marinette, I believe in fate, but only to a certain extent. I believe fate doesn’t have everything perfectly planned out, but instead has countless different paths we can decide to follow. I think it hands us opportunities that we can choose to take advantage of. Fate isn’t something that we have no control over -”  
“Rather, it gives us control,” Marinette finished with a blooming smile.

Sabine winked, Tom wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders. Marinette kissed both of her parents on the cheek before bidding them a god day and heading to the coffee shop before going to the Agreste mansion.

**********

Marinette gripped the pastry basket and coffee carrier anxiously as she stared up at the front gates of the Agreste mansion. She let out one more slow, calming breath before stepping up to the call button. 

She looked down at her full hands and then glared at the button. Being extremely careful of her balance, Marinette lifted her foot up to jab the button. Her toe crashed into the fence a couple of times before she managed to successfully tap the button. However, her victory was short-lived as she nearly lost her balance when a mechanical arm shot out from the wall. Marinette managed to save her balance thanks to her foot that still rested on the wall, but she froze and slowly turned to look at the mechanical arm that she now noticed had a camera. 

A small snort sounded from a hidden speaker. “Good morning, Marinette,” Adrien’s voice chirped.  
Said girl’s cheeks flushed red and sheepishly lowered her foot from the wall. “H-hi, Adrien.” Marinette bit her bottom lip, inwardly scolding herself for stuttering. She took a quick breath and continued, holding up the coffee. “I brought breakfast.”  
“Wonderful! I’ll let you in.”

The camera disappeared back into the wall and the gates buzzed softly before slowly opening for her. She brushed passed the gates and hurriedly shuffled across the courtyard. For some reason, she didn’t like being in the open while the house loomed over her. It felt like anyone could be watching her. As she walked up the stairs to the front porch, she wondered if she would have to knock or if she could simply walk inside. 

Luckily, her worries were pointless as the door was opened as soon as she stepped on the landing. A grinning Adrien met her in the door frame. 

“Hello,” he greeted again, taking the coffee carrier from her and stepping aside to let her enter.  
“Thank you,” she smiled as she walked into the Agreste manor. She stopped just inside the doorway, taking in the massive entrance, all done in marble.  
Adrien cleared his throat slightly. “Uh, yeah. The room is this way.”

Marinette nodded dumbly and followed him as he led the way down one corridor. They passed room after room, and Marinette got the impression that they were in more of a museum than a home. A place where things were not to be touched. 

Finally, Adrien pushed the door open to a room and walked in. Marinette followed, and she was certain her jaw had hit the floor. The room they were in was a designer’s dream. Directly in front of them, the entire far wall was floor to ceiling windows that gave an incredible look into the garden outside. There were two long work tables, each with incredibly nice sewing machines at the end. A mahogany shelf on the right side of the room held four different types of sergers and boxes upon boxes of anything from buttons to jewels to ribbons. The left side of the room was lined with about eight dress forms and a massive rack full of thread spools of every imaginable color. 

“Do-do you like it?”  
Marinette realized that she must have been quiet for far too long when Adrien cut through her musings.  
She nodded quickly at first, trying to reel in her mirth enough to talk. “I love it. It’s perfect.” The designer turned towards Adrien with a brilliant smile plastered to her face.  
The blond seemed to brighten himself at her response. “Good. You can leave your things in here. We’ll have breakfast in the library, it’ll be more comfortable.”

Marinette quickly removed her coat and gingerly placed it and her purse on one of the work tables before following Adrien down the hall a few doors down to the library.

Of all the rooms that she had caught a glimpse of while in the Agreste mansion, the library seemed the coziest. It was still black and white like the rest of the class, maybe libraries just had a certain feel to them.

The room was lined with bookshelves. Instead of the slight smell of cleaner that the rest of the house hd, the library smelled like leather and books. There was a four-person wooden table on one side. There were also two large black reading chairs settled on top of a rug. Marinette realized that this was the only carpet she had seen since entering the manor. 

She stepped forward and set the basket of pastries on the table, the blond followed her lead with the coffee. Marinette looked at the coffees quickly and grabbed hers and Adrien’s. 

“Here you go. Dark roast with skim milk, and I don’t know how you can stand it, but no sugar.”  
Adrien chuckled as he took the cup from her. Marinette took a sip of her mocha and wandered over to the bookshelves to examine the rather extensive collection. They all seemed to be classics or nonfiction. She had yet to find any of the fantasy books that she enjoyed reading. As she was looking through the bookcases, she came to one that had a small book set on a little stand to prop it up. It was extremely old, and Marinette gasped when she read the title. 

“You have a first edition of A Christmas Carol.”  
“Yeah.”  
Marinette startled a little to find him right behind her gazing fondly at the book. He reached forward and gingerly plucked it out of its stand.  
“My mother got it for me when I was younger. It was the last thing I got from her before she passed.” His eyes took on a sadder undertone, but they still held most of their warm glow. “She always loved Christmas. She was always the one that filled this place with the holiday warmth. She insisted that we put up decorations ourselves, not hire someone to do it.” his thumb traced the cover lightly before he placed it back on the shelf. “Once she passed, Christmas never really had the same charm as before. Bittersweet I suppose. More bitter than sweet the first few years.” 

Adrien gazed at the book another minute as Marinette studied his face before he seemingly remembered where he was.  
“Oh, sorry,” he said as his hand came up to rub the back of his neck.  
“No, you don’t have to apologize. It’s a wonderful story.”  
“Yeah…” the boy trailed. His eyes gazed over her head, catching on something. “You hungry?” he asked already moving towards the table. 

Marinette followed him instead of answering. She grabbed a miniature loaf of brioche and a packet of jam while Adrien grabbed a croissant. As she spread the jam on, Adrien bit into his pastry and moaned in pure delight.

“This is so good,” he said, eyes practically rolling into the back of his head as he took another bite.  
Marinette giggled and took a bite of her own breakfast, humming in delight as well.  
“Seriously,” Adrien continued already grabbing for another pastry, “where did you get these from?”  
“My parents’ bakery, Tom and Sabine Pâtisserie,” she replied, pride bleeding into her tone.  
“Mmm. If I grew up with food this good, I promise I would not be a model.”  
Marinette laughed again, Adrien joining in this time.

And it was when they were both laughing and gazing at each other that a person cleared their throat from the door. 

The two startled apart slightly and turned to find a very miffed Chloe staring at them.

“Well, good morning. Aren’t you two cozy,” she snipped.  
“Hello, Ms. Bourgeois,” Marinette said tensely.  
Adrien cleared his throat as he approached his girlfriend. “Good morning, darling.” He swept down for a quick kiss to the cheek, but at the last second, Chloe turned her head so his lips landed on hers as she stared Marinette down. 

Marinette simply lifted an eyebrow at the pair. When Adrien pulled back from the kiss, he slapped his hands on his thighs, and awkwardly looked between the two girls.

“Well,” he said, “shall we sit down and discuss the guidelines of the contest before you get started?” 

**********

Marinette and Chloe sat in the latter’s penthouse while they both worked. Chloe was attempting to design, and based on the massive pile of crumpled papers, it was going about as well as could be expected. 

Marinette, for her part, was working on categorizing clients based on priority, a pretty mindless task, given that she had done it thousands of times before. 

Suddenly, Chloe let out a particularly loud growl and scratched her pencil over the paper several times before pushing her rolling chair away from the desk and scowling at nothing in particular. Marinette allowed herself one more small grin before taking pity on the blonde.

“What do you think about using A Christmas Carol for inspiration. Adrien seemed to have a lot of sentimentality towards it,” she offered.  
“Ugh, no. This isn’t about sentimentality this is about the fundraisers,” her boss growled before spinning her chair around childishly.  
When her back was turned Marinette scowled and rolled her eyes.  
“Well, maybe something else. How did you two meet?”  
Chloe dug her heels into the floor stopping her spinning to face the designer.  
“Well we had kind of danced around each other when we were younger. Always in close proximity but never quite meeting. Naturally, with our fathers’ positions we often wound up at the same kind of events. Well, about the same time that I got out of university, my career was starting to take off, and so was his. I heard that he was to return to Paris for one of his father’s events. I made sure I was there, and had a mutual friend introduce us.”  
“That seems a little … calculated,” Marinette said.  
Chloe hummed. “Maybe. But, I was just attracted to him, you know?”  
Marinette turned towards her work a little bit more to hide the blush that graced her face.  
“We had similar lifestyles,” the blonde continued. “We matched each other in relations, status, and looks of course.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder for emphasis.  
“The perfect couple?” Marinette asked, emptily.  
“Yeah.” Chloe smiled.  
“Do you even love him.” Marinette heard herself asking before she could stop it.  
Her boss’s sharp blue eyes turned on her. “Of course, I love him.”  
The designer hummed this time. “I think you should use your love as a starting point for the designs.”  
Chloe pursed her lips as she slowly turned back to her blank paper. 

**********

Adrien sat in the back of the Miraculous Theater as the dancers on stage practiced one of the particularly challenging pieces. They leaped and twirled before him in seemingly effortless grace, but Adrien saw none of it as he stared down at a small velvet box in his hands. 

He groaned and closed his eyes, leaning back against his seat. When he opened them again, he gave a start upon noticing someone sitting next to him in his peripheral. He turned to face them and his face immediately broke into a radiant smile. 

“Nino,” he exclaimed, pulling his old friend into an awkward hug over the armrest separating them.  
“Adrien, my man,” the sound technician grinned as they pulled away from one another. “How was traveling the globe?”  
He shrugged even though the grin remained on his face. “Great, but exhausting. I’m glad to be back.”  
“And I’m glad to have you back. What’s new?”  
“Not much. Work as usual, I suppose. What about you, besides the new facial hair,” he teased.  
“Alya and I moved in together.”  
“That’s great! Things are getting serious then?”  
“Yeah, we’ve talked about getting married, but we think we both want to be a little more stable in our careers before we go through with it.”  
Adrien nodded, eyebrows drawn together.  
“How are things with Chloe?”  
“ … Good. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about us.”  
“Thinking how?”

Adrien held up the velvet box in response, snapping it open to reveal a glittering diamond ring. Nino let out a low whistle.

“Some serious thinking, then,” his friend said. “You must be pretty sure if you already bought the ring.”  
“Well, I was sure when I bought the ring.” Adrien closed the box again and rubbed his forehead. “Nino, how did you know Alya was the one?”  
Adrien grinned as the slightest pink painted itself over his friend’s cheeks.  
“Uh, well I guess it was the first time we kissed. My heart just … fluttered.” Nino looked out at the stage, facing the dancers, but his mind obviously elsewhere. “I don’t know how else to explain it. I just couldn’t believe a woman like her would even look my way, let alone kiss me. And even now, I still get flutters from time to time. Not all the time, though, it’s more calming now. Like being around her is just … right, you know?”  
Nino looked back at his friend’s crestfallen expression. “And I can tell from your face, that that’s not the answer you were looking for.”

“I don’t know if I’m confusing knots with ‘flutters.’ What do you do if you feel both knots and flutters? Or are those just normal knots, because everyone gets nervous, you know? Can knots be nervous flutters? I mean, It’s a big decision. Unless the knots aren’t flutters of nervousness. Maybe the knots are knots, they’re just knots of guilt over a recent kiss that you had in an elevator. A kiss that actually caused flutters, but this kiss wasn’t with the person that you’re supposed to have flutters with. And what happens when-”  
“Dude!”  
Adrien snapped his frantic eyes to his friend. Nino grabbed his shoulders firmly.  
“First, you need to breathe. Second, If I understood everything, which honestly, it is highly likely that I didn’t, it sounds like you have some shit you need to figure out before you even think about whipping out that ring.”

Adrien nodded numbly.  
“Lahiffe!” a voice called.  
“Oh, man, I gotta go, bro. It was great to see you. We’ll figure out a time to hang soon, kay?”

And with one last comforting pat on his shoulder, Nino ran back to the sound booth, leaving Adrien to slump in his chair, mind swirling.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe is as Chloe does. 
> 
> Also we finally get to see the designs that will be used for the competition. I have been planning these out for a long time, and I even made my own drawings. You can check them out at my tumblr : https://nolly47.tumblr.com/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I saw that they took A Christmas Kiss off Netflix which is a shame, but it should cycle back on soon.

The first thing Marinette noticed when she woke up the next morning was the crick in her neck. After having experienced it so many times, she knew immediately it meant she had fallen asleep at her work desk. She gingerly lifted her head from the table and groaned as a piece of paper stuck to her cheek. She pulled it off, squinting at the design trying to get her sleepy eyes to focus. 

 

As she looked at the drawing, a gasp tore from her throat. her mind suddenly going at full speed. Even after a full day of brainstorming, Chloe hadn’t come up with anything for the contest, and Adrien said he would be stopping by tomorrow morning to look at the designs. Only, today was tomorrow! She had stayed up late after she had a stroke of inspiration for some designs, and she had slept through her alarm. Again.

 

The designer scrambled for the other papers and hastily stuffed them in a nearby bag before rushing around her apartment to finish getting ready. She had time for dry shampoo if she was lucky.

 

**********

 

As soon as the elevator doors slid open, Marinette rushed into the hall and down to Chloe’s suite. She knocked on the door a couple times, and the door swung open immediately. 

 

“You’re four minutes late,” he boss said already sauntering towards the living area.

Marinette bustled after her spouting apologies. “I know. I’m sorry, but I think all will be forgiven once you see what I came up with last night,” she explained giddily as she pulled the designs from her bag and spread them on the table, smoothing out the paper in places from her earlier rough treatment. 

 

Chloe drummed her fingers against the table as she gazed over her hard work. Marinette had actually been inspired by her own attempts at inspiring Chloe. She had gone with the idea of A Christmas Carol, specifically pulling off the three ghosts of Christmas. 

 

After much trial and error, she finally had the three designs that each drew on different aspects of the past, present, and future. The first design was a men’s design, because as much as Marinette loved designing women’s clothing, she felt silly drawing three dresses. 

 

The design representing the Spirit of Christmas Past drew more from vintage fashion than anything else. The outfit consisted of three main pieces. The pants were simple reddish-brown corduroys paired with a light blue pinstripe shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows to give it a barbershop shop quartet vibe. Over the shirt would be a green plaid vest. The vest’s cut would be more modern, but with five buttons to mimic the period jackets of Dickens’s time. Lastly, to top of the look, would be a navy bowtie.

 

The Spirit of Christmas Present was a fitted, floor length emerald colored dress with gold embroidery of holly and swirls dancing along the hem of the skirt. Out of all three designs, this one represented the holiday the most. The dress would mostly be velvet that came up to a sweetheart neckline. Then spreading up to the collarbone and down the arms would be the same deep green but in lace, creating an illusion neckline. It would technically be a backless dress with the lace covering where skin would normally show. Finally the lace would be echoed in a belt around the waist that ended in a large bow in the back, making the dress appear to be a present. The play on words was too good to pass up, plus it made the lace and velvet flow together better.

 

The last design for the Spirit of Christmas Future had been the most difficult to decide. Afterall, how does one design an outfit based on the future. She decided to draw inspiration from the character in the book who was always shrouded in a dark cloak with white curling at their feet. The drawing ended up being a full ball gown made of black chiffon layered over white satin. If the fabric was laid correctly it should end up looking like the fabric shifted between black and shades of grey when the person wearing it moved or walked. 

 

Marinette had spent hours on these designs, they were fit for an Agreste event, while still being a relatively simple construction. The first two at least didn’t have difficult cuts. If it was possible to finish three outfits in six days, these were the best chance they had.

 

“Well,” Chloe started, “these are just embarrassing.”

Marinette’s cheeks flushed red in anger. “What are you talking about? These are good designs. Look, one for each of the three ghosts from the book. Just like A Christmas Carol. I looked back on all of my notes from what Adrien said at breakfast yesterday, and these designs fit his description perfectly. We’ve already wasted an entire day on trying to come up with a design. We need to decide on something now if we are going to be anywhere near done with the final products in time for the fundraiser.”

“And I told you yesterday. We are not basing these designs off of some silly book. This event is going to be an elite function. I know you don’t have any experience in that environment, but you need to stop thinking about ‘charm’ or whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish and focus on sophistication. Now put these away. Adrien will be here any second.”

 

Marinette bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying anything she would severely regret later. As Chloe sauntered back to her couch, Marinette looked over her designs one more time before collecting them up to put in her desk back in Chloe’s office. She placed them on the desk neatly. Well, they could always be used for another contest, or maybe they could be pieces in a winter line when she was actually working as a designer. The very thought was enough to make her smile as she walked back to the living area

 

As she approached the room she could hear Chloe gushing about how excited she was about the designs she had come up with. Marinette rounded the corner to find that Adrien had already arrived. When he noticed her walk in, he smiled at her, ignoring Chloe even as she continued to rant about her designs. Marinette smiled back at him as she fully entered the room.

 

Chloe finally realized Adrien wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. She followed his gaze over her shoulder and something flashed in her eyes when she saw Marinette who simply smiled sweetly in response. Her boss scowled slightly before turning back to Adrien and placing her hands on Adrien’s chest, effectively dragging his attention back to her. 

 

“Adrihoney, I simply cannot wait to show you the designs I came up with for the fundraiser.”

“I’m excited to see what you came up with. And I have good news, we received a good response for the competition despite the short deadline. I already have about thirty other designs. Yours are the last ones I have yet to see. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Oh, thirty others. That’s … wonderful,” Chloe said with sugar dripping from her tone, but Marinette could hear the strain behind it.

And, because she was still mad about Chloe’s earlier comments on her designs she decided to add, “Wow, thirty other submissions. That’s really great. There must have been some fantastic designs that were turned in.” She smirked a little when she saw Chloe stiffen from behind.

Adrien however perked up, returning his attention to Marinette again. “There really were. Some of them were design students from a couple of the best fashion schools in Paris.”

“That’s just great,” Chloe grumbled.

Her boyfriend didn’t seem to notice her sarcasm. “I know! I couldn’t be more pleased. Unless, of course, these designs of yours are as good as you’ve been saying.”

Chloe drew back and walked over to a closed folder that was sitting on the coffee table. “Right. Well, like I said these are just simple sketches, but you know I think you get the idea,” she said take the three papers out and laying them out next to each other for Adrien to see.

 

Marinette didn’t even glance at the papers. Instead she was focused on Adrien’s face to see his reaction. She was impressed at first by his neutral face. Probably all those years of modeling had taught him how to hide his thoughts, but as she studied the way one of his eyebrows was just slightly raised and the tension in his jaw, Marinette could already piece together his thoughts. 

 

After a couple more minutes, he leaned back from the designs and rubbed his chin a few times, trying to piece his words together. “Wow, Chlo. I am constantly amazed by your talent. But, you know these aren’t exactly the style we’re goin for you know.”

 

Marinette swept her gaze over to Chloe feeling very smug. Chloe, to her credit, didn’t throw a tantrum. Her eye twitched the slightest before she spoke. “You know. I thought you might say that, so I went ahead and did another set just in case these weren’t your taste.” 

 

Marinette’s eyebrows furrowed as she watched her boss scurry from the room and back to the office to presumably grab some of her crumbled ideas off the floor. She rolled her eyes before turning back to Adrien and finally stepping forward to inspect what Chloe had come up with. When her boss bustled back into the room, and Adrien went to look at whatever desperate designs she had managed to scavenge, Marinette continued to look at the first designs.

 

They weren’t bad admittedly. One of them, she thought, was good enough to come out of a couture house. Oh, wait. It did. Her boss had drawn an almost exact replica of a piece from the Kassell Fall 2013 line. Well, at least Chloe was smart enough not to copy anything from Gabriel’s brand. Honestly, the fact-

 

Marinette was snapped out of her musings when she caught Adrien saying something that sounded a lot like “three ghost of Christmas.” She looked over sharply to see Adrien beaming at the papers Chloe had handed him. When she glanced at her boss, Marinette saw fire behind her eyes as she held a single finger to her lips. Adrien shuffled the papers, and Marinette caught sight of  _ her  _ designs. 

 

“Yes. It’s perfect. And the heart that you put into these ideas. I mean basing it off of my book is just perfect. All three of these will be in the fundraiser.” Adrien paused his gushing then. “Well, that is assuming you can get them done in time.” His voiced raised at the end in a question.

“Of course. Marinette can help me.”

 

Both of the blonds attentions turned to the designer, and it took everything in her power to force the corners of her lips up even as she continued to throw daggers at Chloe with her eyes. 

 

Adrien beamed in response, completely oblivious to the tension in the room. He glanced down at his watch and handed the papers back to Chloe. “I have one more meeting I need to get to.” He gave Chloe one quick kiss. As he shuffled towards the door he called over his shoulder, “I’ll be at the house after lunch. Stop by, and I’ll let you in so you can get into the office to work.”

 

The whole time he was leaving Marinette didn't take her eyes off of Chloe. As soon as the door clicked closed behind her, the designer stormed closer to her boss. The blonde squared her shoulders, her eyes hardening.

 

“Those are _my_ designs,” she gritted out between clenched teeth.

“You work for me. Any work you produce is done under my supervision.”

Marinette growled.

“Don’t kid yourself, Marinette. You need this job. Now, unless you want me to rip away everything you have been working for, don’t cross me. I can get you blacklisted from every single couture house in France. After I’m done with you, you’ll be right back where you started. Cramped in a dusty little theater, spending the rest of your miserable little life fixing buttons.”

 

Marinette bit the inside of her cheek. 

“You are relieved to go on lunch break. And don’t even think about showing up to Adrien’s until you have a better attitude.”

 

The designer collected her things and left the suite as quickly as possible. As soon as Marinette had gotten to street level she whipped out her phone and called Alya. 

 

“Hey, Mar.”

“Alya can we please get lunch together? If I don’t talk to someone my head is going to explode.”

“Yikes, Chloe or Adrien?”

Marinette let out an exasperated huff. “The sea witch.”

“Dang, girl. If she’s finally pushed you to calling names, it can’t be good. I can be at your parents’ place in fifteen.

“Okay, see you then.”

 

Marinette pushed her phone in her pocket and huffed, watching her breath turn to fog in the cold weather. She pulled her pink peacoat around herself a little tighter and decided to take the long way to the bakery. Hopefully walking a little would help her cool off some of her rage.

 

**********

 

The walk to her parents’ pâtisserie did help tamp down some of her anger, but it certainly didn’t help her swirling mind. She was so preoccupied with things she should have said and could have done that she walked right passed the door the first time before realizing her mistake when she was in front of her old middle school. 

 

The girl grumbled and backtracked the block and a half to the bakery, paying more attention to where she was walking this time. She pushed the door open and found Alya already chatting with her parents. They all turned when the bell over the door chimed, signaling her entrance. 

 

“Marinette,” Alya grinned and walked over to pull her friend in a tight hug. “I didn’t tell them anything,” she whispered in her ear before pulling away.

“Thank you,” Marinette said back. She turned to greet her parents.

 

After they had both been dotted over excessively and given quiche for lunch, Tom and Sabine retreated to the kitchen to finish decorating a big cake order. The two friends settled at one of several small tables that had recently been added. As Alya nibbled at her lunch, Marinette told her about everything that had happened that morning. 

 

“So, now I’m going to be stuck doing most if not all of the work for my designs that i’m not even going to get credit for,” she finished.

Alya swallowed her last bite before speaking. “Well, there is always the option that you could tell Adrien that those are your designs.” She held up a hand when Marinette opened her mouth to exclaim about what a terrible idea that was. “And, you can quit your job with Chloe. Start your own business liked you’ve always wanted. There’s no way Chloe can completely blacklist you from every client. Start a small boutique, it could even be online, then grow from there.”

“Okay, let’s say by some crazy miracle Chloe isn’t able to do that. It would still require me to tell Adrien. And then he would confront Chloe and then it would be her word against mine.” Marinette slumped in her chair and poked her quiche a few times, not feeling hungry at all. 

“Well, if telling the truth isn’t an option. What are you gonna do?”

 

_ Fate isn’t something we have no control over.  _

 

Marinette sat up a little straighter from her mother’s words bouncing around her head. “I’m going to take control. This is still a great opportunity even if I’m not getting full credit. Chloe doesn’t know how to sew anything more than a hem. I’ll be working closely with the Adrien Agreste. What better connection could there be?”

“He’s not bad on the eyes, either,” Alya smirked as Marinette flushed pink. 

“Come on, Al. I thought we moved passed this? It was one silly kiss in an elevator. Even if it did feel like fireworks,” she mumbled the last part, but Alya’s reporter ear picked up on it just fine.

“Fireworks, huh?”

 

The two girls giggled like they were back in middle school, not even noticing the bell chime.

 

Sabine bustled out of the kitchen to see to the new customer. “Hello, welcome to Tom and Sabine Pâtisserie. How can I help you?”

“Hello, ma’am.” Marinette froze when she heard the voice. “Could I get some sort of sampler to try several things at once?”

 

Marinette’s gaze flew to the counter where the new customer was smiling sweetly at her mother.

 

“Adrien?” she called before she could stop herself.

The blond turned towards her in surprise, another easy smiling spreading as he recognized who called him. “Oh, Marinette. I came in to stop by for some more pastries. I might be breaking my diet, but you got me hooked on these croissants,” he said walking over to the girls. 

 

As he approached Marinette shot one warning glance at Alya. “This is my friend, Alya.” 

Alya raised her chin slightly and held out her hand gracefully. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Adrien.” 

“The same to you.” 

It seemed like they were about to lap into an awkward silence, but Alya wouldn't allow it. “Marinette, here, was just telling me about the exciting designs that Chloe came up with.” 

The designer glowered at her friend, it certainly didn’t take long to get on that topic.

“Yes,” Adrien said excitedly. “I’m so excited to see the final products. I still can’t believe how perfectly Chloe managed to capture the idea I was going for.” 

“Mmm, neither can I,” Alya said slyly. She got a kick in the shin under the table for that comment. 

Marinette coughed to cover up her friend’s pained yelp. “So, Adrien, you’re dressed awfully nice today, are you just coming from a photoshoot?” 

“Thank you. Just meetings today though. You looked very nice in that pink jacket, by the way. I think it’s a good color on you.” 

“You know,” Alya said cutting in, “I always thought the same thing. Her face practically lights up when she wears pink. It’s almost like she glitters.” 

Another sharp kick under the table.

 

“Anyway!” Marinette said before Adrien could dwell too much on that comment. “Are you headed back to your house now? We could walk together.”

“Yes, actually. That would be nice. Let me just pay real quick.” He smiled one more time before strolling back towards Sabine. 

 

As soon as he was out of immediate ear-shot, Marinette hissed at her friend, “Are you crazy? We just went over this, I am not telling him that I was the one that kissed him while dressed like a freaking ladybug.” 

“What, Mar? I was just trying to make you blush. After all, he did say that it was a nice color on you.” She laughed, Marinette couldn’t keep the stern look on her face. 

 

She had begun giggling a little bit when Adrien appeared back at her side. “Ready when you are,” he chirped. 

“Great. Let’s go.” 

“It was nice to meet you, Alya.” 

“Oh, the pleasure was all mine.” 

 

The walk to the Agreste mansion was quiet. But for the first time, Marinette was comfortable with the silence between the two of them.

 

**********

 

It had been a very long day, and Chloe was exhausted. She had stayed up late, working herself to death trying to at least get something down on paper. Things didn’t go as planned, but she had always prided herself on being flexible. 

 

Her and Marinette had been working out the patterns that would be needed for each outfit, and they had thankfully gotten them done before they called it a day. God, who knew sewing was actually hard. The point was, it had been a very trying day, and now all she wanted to do was have a nice relaxing dinner with ehr extremely attractive boyfriend before going to sleep.  

 

Even after her multiple attempts to get Adrien to agree to go out for dinner, in the hopes of getting caught by the paparazzi, she had finally settled on a quiet two-person dinner at her place. 

 

She finished lighting the candles right as a knock sounded at the door. He was punctual as always. She sauntered over to the entrance, double-checking to make sure her bangs were laid perfectly across her forehead. Finding nothing wrong, she pulled the door open for her boyfriend.

 

“Adrikins, it’s so good to see you,” she mused.

“Chloe,” he greeted swooping in for a kiss. “We saw each other most of the day.” 

“I know,” she pouted, “but you were gone so long, I simply can’t get enough of you. here let me take your coat.” 

 

He shucked his jacket for her and headed over to inspect the table while she went to hang the garment in a closet by her bedroom. As she went to straighten it on the hanger, her fingers glided over something hard in the pocket. Curiously, she pulled the item out, and marvelled at what she had discovered. 

 

It was a small black velvet box. A box just big enough to hold a piece jewelry. She smirked as she opened the lid to reveal the engagement ring. Her engagement ring. 

 

“Would you like me to put on some Christmas music?” Adrien called from the other room. 

She quickly closed the lid. “Ugh, anything but. They’ve been playing it since Halloween.” 

 

She carefully slid the box back into the rightful pocket, and took another minute to herself before returning to her soon to be fiancé. Afterall, she had a lot to think about. 


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive! Sorry for the wait, and thank you for being patient. School has definitely started back up for me. And I know we are almost in February, but we're still going with this Christmas fic. 
> 
> Enjoy, and thank you for reading!

The day had finally arrived. They would be doing Marinette’s two favorite parts of sewing today: making the patterns and choosing the fabrics that would be used. The actual act of sewing was fun of course, but when you’re doing it for several hours at a time, and your eyes are starting to blur and itch, it becomes decidedly less fun. Plus the massive time constraints wouldn’t be doing her any favors. But she wouldn’t have to think about that til tomorrow. 

 

Today would be all about the puzzle aspect of sewing. Trying to make a 3D thing out of 2D materials. Making the patterns fit the curves of a person’s body and lay perfectly so that they flattered and matched the image in the designer’s head. Marinette may not have been very good at physics in collège, but she had always been good at geometry, the shapes and formulas translating over from her designing skills easily. 

 

And of course, who doesn’t love going to a fabric store and running the tips of their fingers along the various fabrics. Marinette’s mind always swirled with ideas when she saw fabrics. She generally tried to have an idea of what she needed before she went in to a fabric store. She learned her lesson from the first time she went in a store ‘for inspiration.’ She walked out with ten bolts of fabric, three of which she has yet to touch to this day. 

 

Ah, who was she kidding, she would go into fabric stores with a plan of a certain amount of fabric and still walk out with way more than she had originally planned.

 

Overall, Marinette was really looking forward to the day. Alya had even said that she could help out in the morning with cutting patterns. Marinette was confident that with the three of them working (assuming that Chloe actually decided to be helpful) they would be able to start sewing that night, putting them ahead of their very tight schedule. 

 

Alya and Marinette met at a small café to grab a quick breakfast before walking to the Agreste mansion together. 

 

The two laughed hysterically as they passed through the gates and entered the large residence. Alya was filling Marinette in on a new piece she was working on about what was surely the dumbest criminal in history’s attempt at robbing a small magasin. 

 

They were still gasping for air and wiping tears from their faces when they made it to the room. 

 

“It \- it’s this one,” Marinette managed between chuckles as she held her convulsing stomach. 

 

Alya recovered slightly sooner than Marinette and went to swing the door open. 

 

Now, what happened next was strictly not her fault. She was so used to having to practically throw her full body weight into the doors of her ancient apartment building that she was unused to functioning doors. 

 

So, when the door banged open about a foot before coming to a sudden halt immediately followed by a shriek and a thud, it was absolutely not Alya’s fault. 

 

That being said. Alya would most certainly not feel bad for having just rammed a door into the perfect little nose of one Chloe Bourgeois who was now groaning on the floor. 

 

All amusement left the two friends immediately. Marinette’s hands flew to cover her mouth, and both girls exchanged equally horrified expressions before the designer was rushing forward to help her boss off the marble floor. With Alya’s help they were able to settle the blonde in one of the work chairs. 

 

Chloe kept her fingers over her nose. “I need a mirror,” she snapped.

“Right!” Marinette squeaked as she frantically spun in a circle looking for a mirror to magically appear.

“Ugh! In my purse!” the blonde snipped impatiently.

 

Marinette threw herself across the room to retrieve the compact mirror out of Chloe’s bag. As Chloe took the mirror, her wound was put fully on display. Both Alya and Marinette took in a sharp inhale of breath at the sight. 

 

Her nose looked to be slightly crooked. Well, maybe. It was hard to really tell with the blood and swelling that was already starting to appear. Chloe gasped as she looked in the tiny mirror, moving it around jerkily to try to get a better angle.

“Is it bad?” Chloe asked, horrified.

Marinette shook her head desperately. “No. No, not at all. I’m sure a little foundation would cover it right up.” 

Alya snorted next to her. “Yeah, a gallon of foundation.”

The blonde shot the journalist a quick sneer, but winced when the action scrunched her nose. “Putain de merde! Adrien cannot see me like this,” she said shaking her head. 

“Adri-. I’m sure he won’t mind. If he really loves you, it won’t matter what you look like,” Marinette implored.

“Ugh, plain girls like you always think like that,” her boss shot back as she stood up and started pacing. 

 

The two friends waited anxiously as Chloe seemingly decided their fate. The blonde stopped her pacing quickly and clapped her hands together.

“I’ve got it! I can go to Daddy’s for the next few days. He has a surgeon. Three days with Daddy’s specialist, and this whole thing disappears.” She scrambled to grab her purse and jacket. 

“Wait!” Marinette called. “We only have three days to finish these outfits, and what will I tell Adrien when he sees you’re gone?”

Chloe turned back towards Marinette just before she reached the door. “ Just tell him that I had to leave town unexpectedly on business, it happens all the time. And you are in charge, Marinette. You do know the design inside and out.” 

The designer’s blood boiled again, but she kept her hands from curling into fists. 

“And as for you,” Chloe said turning to Alya. “You better thank your stars that I can’t sue you over this without Adrien finding out. However, I think Marinette will more than make up for your punishment. If these designs aren’t finished or even slightly less than perfect by the time I get back, I will personally make sure you never work in anything higher than a thrift shop. Got it?”

Marinette nodded tiredly, already used to her boss’s threats. 

With that, Chloe turned her injured nose up in the air and sauntered out of the room. 

 

As soon as she couldn’t hear her boss’s heels clicking down the hall anymore, Marinette collapsed on the chair and buried her face in her hands. “What am I going to do Alya? This was already mission impossible, but now I’m gonna be the only person sewing.” 

“Girl, I’m not gonna lie. This isn’t gonna be easy. But I have no doubt that if anyone can do this, it is The Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And you know what else?”

“What?” she said picking her head up to look at her friend.

“You get an entire weekend with just you and Mister Tall, Blond, and Gorgeous,” Alya snickered as she wiggled her eyebrows. 

The designer quickly ducked her face back in her hands in a pitiful attempt to hide her searing blush.

 

**********

 

Alya had to leave after they finished measuring and cutting out the paper patterns for the first two outfits. Marinette had only been on her own for an hour and a half, and already she missed the idle chatter. On a positive note though, she had been highly productive. This was especially good since the last outfit, the Christmas Future dress, had the most complex pattern. 

 

While Alya was there, they had piled the completed pattern cut-outs onto one of the long work tables, and she was just starting the final pattern piece. After this one was done, she could go to the fabric store and then finally start actually sewing. 

 

“Hey.” 

Marinette shrieked and practically threw her scissors into the air. She whipped around to find Adrien staring at her with wide eyes from the doorway.

“Sorry,” he cringed. “I guess you didn’t hear me coming.”

The designer forced herself muscles to relax. “Uh, yeah. I was kinda in the zone. I tend to block everything else out.” 

“I liked the song you were humming.”

Marinette felt heat rush across her cheeks and up to her ears. She hadn’t even realised she was humming while she worked. “Thanks,” she squeaked out. 

He inclined his head slightly in response. The two stared at each other a minute longer, a heavy awkwardness settling over them. “So, where’s Chloe?”

Marinette’s eyes bulged. “Oh! Oh my gosh, sorry I totally forgot to tell you. She, um, got a call, and she had to leave town unexpectedly. On short notice. For, for business.”

Adrien sighed and nodded slightly. “Yeah, that happens more often than you would expect for a personal shopper.” 

That made Marinette wonder how many times Chloe had lied to her boyfriend, the man she supposedly loved. “Um, yeah. But, don’t worry, she put me in charge of the designs. I’ll make sure to get them all done before the event.”

“Oh, that’s great,” he said as he walked further into the room to inspect her progress so far. “What all have you gotten done?”

The designer’s chest puffed out just a tad in pride. “Well, actually, we’ve made amazing progress. Those,” she said pointing to the pile of paper patterns on the work table, “are the paper cut outs. I was just finishing up the last one when you walked in. After that’s finished, I’ll go to the fabric store and then get started on construction.”

“Do you need any company to get the fabric?” the blond asked. “It’s probably going to be a lot of fabric I can help you carry it.”

“Oh, that’s really not necessary. After years of working at my parents’ bakery, I’ve gotten used to carrying around heavy bags of flour. I’m stronger than I look.”

“Oh, well. May I join you?”

“Oh. O-of course. Thank you,” she said. The beaming smile that he gave her still played in her head as she finished cutting out the last pattern. Not long after, the two were headed out. 

 

**********

 

Adrien had to be extra mindful of the way he was walking to make sure he wasn’t skipping from his excitement. He was going to a fabric store. An actual one. Sure, he liked modelling well enough, but he always liked sneaking peeks into the behind the scenes of the designing process. Even his father’s eyes took on a distinct glow whenever he was designing. And now Adrien got to do it with Marinette, who he had decided very quickly was wonderful company. 

 

They walked silently down the streets. Marinette looking through her notepad, that she seemed to constantly have on hand, double-checking that she knew exactly how much of each fabric they would need. He hoped she knew where she was going. She was making turns at street corners just fine on her own, but Adrien had had to pull her out of the way of multiple obstacles already. 

 

In the end though, it seemed the designer’s feet were more reliable than her situational awareness as she was soon leading them into a corner store. As soon as Adrien’s eyes adjusted the first word that popped into his mind was: fabric. 

 

Okay, he knew that sounded stupid, but there was a lot of fabric. The store was fairly large compared to other magasins in the area, it being a corner store, and there were rows upon rows upon rows of fabric. And every single shelf was jam-packed. Linens and sheers and felts and laces and silks and thousands of other types he could never name. So yes, fabric was the first thing that came to mind, because there was no doubt in his mind that they would be able to find any fabric imaginable no matter how specific. 

 

He was snapped out of his awe-struck stupor when Marinette started murmuring next to him. She had her hands up on either side of her head, held almost like blinders meant for a horse. She started marching almost mechanically further in the store, and Adrien followed closely. 

 

“Only get what you came for. Only get what you came for,” she repeated like a mantra to herself.

“Uh, Marinette. You okay?” he ventured.

“Fine,” she said, not moving her hands from her eyes. “I’m just trying to stay focused. You wouldn’t believe how easily I could blow a  couple hundred Euros in this store.”

Adrien chuckled next to her. He liked this side of Marinette. She was so lively and passionate.

“Oh!” She took her hands away from her face at last and looked at him pleadingly. “Adrien, you have to make sure I only buy what we need for this project, okay? Nothing else.”

The expression on her face was so serious Adrien schooled his own face to promise he would, but as soon as she turned away he broke into a grin, shaking his head fondly.

 

After that they moved pretty quickly (Marinette trying to get in and out as fast as possible without getting distracted by unnecessary fabric). She had already picked a couple fabrics for the first outfit, and Adrien was really starting to enjoy the store. While the designer debated over tulle choices, he found a rack of what had to be the softest material known to man. He stood there stroking it for a few minutes, unwilling to leave the fabric behind.

 

When he started thinking about buying some for himself just to carry around, he remembered his mission not to let Marinette buy any unnecessary fabric. He certainly couldn’t buy any for himself if he was supposed to keep  _ her  _ from doing the same. 

 

He turned around, reluctantly letting go of the soft fabric, but she was no longer standing where she was a few minutes ago. They had only been in the store ten minutes, and he had already managed to lose track of her. 

 

Adrien quickly set off down the rows, scanning each one for her pink peacoat. He found her on an aisle composed completely of green velvet, and the designer had managed to find two other bolts of fabric tucked snuggly under her arm. She squinted her eyes and pursed her lips as she debated between the greens on the shelves. 

 

He sidled up next to her to and took the fabric she had already selected from her. She offered an distracted ‘thank you,’ but it didn’t bother Adrien at all. She was so focused on the fabric he was surprised she had even noticed him there at all. With her hands now freed, she carefully pulled three different bolts of green velvet off the shelf to more closely inspect them. Adrien watched as she ran her fingers over all three briefly before quickly returning the middle one to the shelf.

 

“Which one?” she asked, effectively snapping Adrien’s attention to her face. “For the Christmas Present dress.”

He returned his gaze back to the two remaining bolts and squinted between the two, trying to figure out which one would be better. He glanced back at Marinette once more. “I don’t know which one you want me to pick,” he admitted quietly. 

She cocked her head to the side in response. “It’s not a trick question. I think they would both work well. I just want your honest opinion.”

 

Well, in his honest opinion Adrien could see absolutely no difference between the two fabrics. The blond tilted his head as he scrubbed the stubble along his chin that he had forgotten to shave that morning. An idea came to him, and his eyes lit up with mischief as he started singing and pointing back and forth between the two bolts of velvet. 

“ _ Am, stram, gram, Pic et pic et colégram, Bour et bour et ratatam, Am, stram, gram.”  _ Adrien’s finger landed on the one on the left as he sang the last note, “ _ Pic. _ ” He tapped that one signalling that it was his choice. 

 

Marinette giggled at his antics as she replaced the other one and went to tuck the winner under her arm. Before she could though, Adrien grabbed it and added it to the fabric he was already carrying. He was surprised to see her cheeks pink slightly from the gesture, but he didn’t have long to dwell on it as she turned away and headed in search of the next fabric they would need. Adrien happily trotted after her, and anytime she gave him the option of picking a fabric he repeated his very scientific method of choosing. 

 

He was surprised with how efficient Marinette was. She managed to pick out the fabrics they needed quickly while still marveling at the different fabrics. Adrien learned that her favorite fabric was chiffon even though it had been hard to learn how to sew with it properly when she was first learning. And, it was this piece of information that led Adrien to begin learning just what an incredible person Marinette was. She was completely self-taught in her sewing and most of her designing skills. 

 

They checked out with their very heavy load, and Adrien was glad that he was there to help her carry the many, many bolts of fabric. It would not surprise him in the slightest if they had bought a kilometer of fabric. 

 

Adrien held the door open for her (with his foot as his arms were full) then followed her out into the cold once more. Their walk started quietly, but a group of carolers across the street broke out into a wonderful rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Next to him, Marinette stopped walking for a minute to listen to the song, a warm smile gracing her face.

 

“I love this song,” she said almost to herself.

“Me too. But, do you ever get tired of hearing the same songs over and over, though?”

Marinette turned to him, a look of utter betrayal on her face. “Christmas songs never get old!” 

Adrien chuckled. As they turned back to listen to the singers, he couldn’t help but think how very different this girl was from his girlfriend.

 

_ Now bring us some figgy pudding _

_ Now bring us some figgy pudding _

_ Now bring some out here _

 

“What even is figgy pudding?” Adrien asked aloud.

“Don’t know.” Marinette said as she started to walk once more. “But it must be pretty good if they won’t go until they get some,” she laughed. 

 

Adrien took a second to stare after her before quickly jogging to walk by her side once more. “So, you obviously like Christmas carols. What other holiday traditions did your family do?” he asked, genuinely curious as to what a typical family holiday was like.

“Oh, well. We - my parents and I - would pick up a tree and bring it home. They still live above the bakery, and trying to get the tree up on the second floor was always an entertaining ordeal.” She giggled slightly at the memory, and Adrien felt his chest warm. “And of course we would watch all of the classic Christmas movies.”

“Like what?” Adrien prodded further.

“The ones everyone watches, I suppose. A Christmas Story. Home Alone. White Christmas. A Charlie Brown Christmas. Oh! And of course, It’s a Wonderful Life. I still cry when Clarence gets his wings.”

 

A small comfortable silence fell briefly, but Adrien wanted her to keep talking, to learn more about this girl, so he broke the silence.

“I have never seen any of those movies,” he confessed, sheepishly. 

Marinette looked at him in shock, but remained silent. 

“It’s true,” he continued. “Christmas was always a bit different at my house. Christmas trees just kind of arrived when I was younger. My mother, though, she would make it special. My father insisted on getting a professional to decorate, but she refused every time. She made the house come alive with holiday cheer. And instead of movies, each Christmas Eve she would read me to sleep with A Christmas Carol.”

 

He looked over and found Marinette smiling softly at him, but he had to look away. “She passed away fifteen years ago, and ever since then I guess there just hasn’t been that same spark that there was.”

 

Adrien felt a light weight on his arm and looked up to find Marinette had placed her hand on his arm comfortingly. It was only then that he realised he had stopped walking. Talking about his mother was still a sore spot. 

 

“She sounds lovely,” Marinette said, softly. 

Adrien’s smile came back slightly at that. “She was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh. Adrien has a crush.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyo. I'm sorry for the hella long break, but I was honestly getting kinda sick of this fic, and I needed to take a break. Anyway, this fic is not abandoned, and I will definitely be finishing it before January. Hopefully before Christmas, but I am actually studying abroad in France at the moment, so I have no idea how much time I will have to write.

Marinette had stayed late at the Agreste mansion and begrudgingly arrived again early the next morning. She had gotten all of the fabrics cut into pieces according to the paper patterns from the morning. She had gotten the corduroys for Christmas Past all pinned up and ready to be sewn together. Then she would just have to add the zipper and other small details. Marinette had also been working on the bodice for the Christmas Future dress. She knew that it was probably going to be the most challenging part of any of the outfits. She had gotten about a third of the way done when she was practically falling asleep on her feet and decided to call it a night. 

 

So she was back again today, having awoken before the freaking sun had risen. Really, people were not meant to be functional this early in the morning. She bought a very large coffee on her way to the Agreste mansion before ringing the buzzer and being greeted by an extremely chipper Adrien. Of course, he would be a morning person. 

 

Adrien let her through the gate and smiled brightly as he met her at the door, and Marinette could swear there was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes at her bedraggled appearance. 

 

“Good morning,” he chirped, accompanied by a dazzling smile. 

“It is morning, but whether it is good or not is debatable,” Marinette grumbled in response as she took another swig of her already cooling coffee.  

The blond merely laughed as he shut the door behind her. “So,” he said as he began walking with her down the halls to her work room. “I know you must be swamped with the extra work now that Chloe isn’t in town anymore.”

The designer hummed in response.

“Well, I don’t know how much I can actually do, but I’m a quick learner and if you want I could try to help you with some of the easier tasks if you’d like.”

 

Marinette stops in her tracks to look bewilderedly at the man beside her. Adrien had stopped as well and was now rubbing the back of his neck. Marinette was surprised to realise that she recognized the action as one of nervousness; she was surprised by just how much she had managed to learn about him in so short a time. And with his offer of help on the table, she came to the very strong realization that she  _ wanted  _ to get to know him better. 

 

Mistaking her lack of response as a rejection Adrien backpedaled hastily, “Uh,not that you need help. And I mean I don’t even know how to use a sewing machine I’m su-” 

 

He cut off when her hand landed on his upper arm. “Adrien, I would love to have your help.” She smiled brightly, and the blond quickly grinned as well. 

 

**********

 

Since the start of the morning Adrien had a feeling that it would be a good day. He only had a little bit of organizing details to finalize and he had managed to finish all of it before Marinette arrived. Speaking of the girl, he couldn’t help but admit he was impressed by her. The security alert system report of the day had registered her as leaving the house at about three in the morning the previous night. She had probably only gotten a couple hours of sleep judging by the fact that she had returned so early. And since he had the day off, it was really the least he could do to offer to help. 

 

He himself wasn’t very experienced, and goodness knows he would have gotten one of the professional designers from the company to help if he had any kind of authority on that side of the company, but alas all he had were his inexperienced hands. 

 

But at the rate Marinette was teaching him, he didn’t think he would stay inexperienced for long. It had only been a half hour, and she had already managed to teach him how to thread a sewing machine as well as use it, and he was starting to get good at keeping his lines straight while he worked on a practice scrap of fabric. Oh. And she did all of this while still working on the fundraiser pieces. 

 

And Adrien thought that things seemed to be going pretty well. The only mishap so far was shortly after they arrived in the work room and Adrien almost cut paper with Marinette’s sewing shears. The girl nearly had a panic attack at the sight, but managed to stop him before the scissors could be dulled.

 

Nevertheless, after spending only a short few hours with her, Adrien was convinced this girl was a powerhouse. But even powerhouses, need to refuel sometimes. A grin came to Adrien’s face. 

 

“Marinette, I need to run out for a quick errand. I’ll be back within an hour.”

 

His grin grew as she mumbled an affirmative around the pins sticking precariously out of her mouth. 

 

**********

 

Marinette hummed a bouncy little tune as she finished up the embroidery. It had taken about a half hour, and her knees were starting to cramp from kneeling on the ground for so long, but it was worth it. She cut off the excess thread and leaned back a little to admire her work. It was by no means perfect, but nobody would really see it anyway. It was just a tiny detail, a small nod to the original design inspiration. 

 

Marinette heard the clicking of Adrien’s heavy footfalls echoing down the hallway. She quickly pulled the top layers of the green dress back down to hide the surprise for the time being. She managed to get into a standing position as the blond reentered the room. She rubbed her knees as she smiled up at him.

 

He smiled back. It was a little tight, not like he was faking, but more like he was trying not to smile and failing miserably. “Hello,” he greeted, his tone falsely casual.

 

The designer straightened up fully, and tilted her head at him. “Hello to you too.”

Adrien’s eyes drifted to the side and his eyes widened considerably at the sight of the fully constructed Christmas Present dress. “Woah! You got it all sewn up.” He walked forward to take in all the details of the dress. “This is amazing, Marinette. I mean- I knew- But this is just- Wow.”

Marinette giggled. “Good?”

Adrien’s bright gaze turned back to her. “Amazing.”

 

She could only hold his stare for a couple seconds before she had to look down to try to hide her blush. As she did, though, she noticed that he was holding something in each hand, that he must have been hiding when he first came in. 

 

“What’s that?” she asked.

Adrien followed her gaze, then he perked up, and that glint was back in his eyes. This time Marinette could recognize it as a mix of excitement and mischief. “This,” he said rather dramatically while pulling his hands fully into view to reveal two bowls, “is figgy pudding.”

Marinette took one of the bowls. The contents were… interesting. She took a quick sniff of it and immediately regretted it. “Oh, God, it smells awful!”

“Oh, yeah. Looks pretty awful too,” the blond agreed while he stabbed his fork into it experimentally.

“You first,” Marinette said.

Adrien shook his head thoroughly. “Oh no. Ladies first. I’m a gentleman.”

She laughed one more time before lifting a small amount to her mouth. She gave him one more skeptical look then tasted it. Adrien followed right after. 

“Oh no!” Marinette lifted the bowl to her mouth and spit out what was in her mouth. “Oh my God, it’s even worse than it smells.”

She looked back up to see Adrien grimacing as he swallowed. “Yeah, I’d rather only drink eggnog for the rest of my life.”

“It’s awful,” she agreed as she handed her bowl to him. “Thank you for the interesting experience.”

“Of course,” he said with a small chuckle. 

 

He set the bowls down on a nearby work table, and turned back to admire the dress again. Marinette watched him for a couple seconds before breaking the small silence.

 

“I have a surprise for you, too,” she said as she walked up next to him.

He looked at her in surprise, but didn’t say anything, waiting for her to continue.

Marinette bent down to lift the outer layer of the dress. 

 

Adrien took a sceptical look at the petticoat. “Oh, you got the hemming finished. It looks really well done,” he said with a polite smile. He knew the pudding wasn’t that great, but this wasn’t really what he had in mind when she said she had a surprise as well. He glanced back at Marinette as she laughed.

 

“No, look closer,” she said as she reigned her laughter in. This time he squinted at the deep emerald fabric and saw a disturbance in the otherwise smooth fabric. He leaned in a little closer to the dress and realized that it was stitching. The stitching ran across the very front of the petticoat, and spelled out the words, “Mankind should have been my business.”

 

A quote from A Christmas Carol. One that Adrien knew very well. 

 

Adrien knelt down and leaned back a little, still staring in silent awe at the words that pierced him. He felt Marinette’s hand land on his upper arm, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her in that moment. 

 

“I can take it out if you don’t like it,” Marinette’s voice cut through his thoughts. 

“No. No. It’s - it’s perfect. It… that was always one of my mother’s favorite lines.” He looked up at Marinette then, seeing her lips parted in surprise before quickly looking back at the perfect embroidery. 

“Everytime she read the book to me, she paused at that point in the story. Always saying that no matter what I ended up being when I was older, I could never forget that there are people less fortunate. And our family had been very fortunate, indeed, so it was especially important. That’s why I’m doing this fundraiser. My father agreed to let me be in charge of an event this year, and if everything goes well, we agreed that I could take over the charitable parts of the company.”

 

“That’s why you’re so nervous about this event.” It wasn’t really a question

“Am I that obvious?” The blond asked as he turned to look at Marinette. She still had a comforting hand on his arm. And he didn’t realize how close he had gotten to her when he knelt down for a closer look at the stitching. 

“Yeah,” she said, her voice coming out on a breath. 

 

Clearing his throat Adrien forced himself to stand to put some space between them. “I, um, want to thank you. For … all of this,” he said as he scratched the back of his neck. 

Marinette carefully draped the skirt back over the petticoat, covering the secret stitching. “Oh, that’s not necessary. I mean, it is my job.”

“No,” he protested, while helping her to her feet. “You- this,” he gestured to the recently covered words, “is so much more than ‘just doing your job.’ Since Chloe had to leave town you have done double the work, and have still managed to take such tiny, heartfelt details into account. Please let me take you out to dinner.” 

The designer’s cheeks colored slightly, but she slowly nodded her head.

“Wonderful. I know this great bistro a few blocks away.”

“Actually,” Marinette said, “I’ve got a better idea.” She simply grinned as Adrien cocked his head at her. 

 

**********

 

As Adrien slid into the booth seat across from Marinette, he looked around at the brick wall interior and cluttered décor. “You know, pizza and beer isn’t really on my diet.”

Marinette’s mouth pulled down at the corners. “Oh, I didn’t even think about that. We can go somewhere else. I reall-” She cut off as soon as she felt Adrien’s hand land on top of her own that rested on the table between them. 

Adrien gave her an easy smile. “Believe me, something not being on my diet, is a good thing. There’s only so many salads a person can stand eating in a single week.”

Marinette grinned back, trying her best to not stare at their hands that were still touching.  

 

They exchanged idle chatter after they ordered (their hands only separating when the waitress came to get their orders) and waited on their food to come out. Although Adrien had kept a small smile throughout the conversation, Marinette had gotten rather good at reading him within the last couple days, and she couldn’t help but notice the way his brow seemed to remain slightly creased. When the conversation briefly lapsed into silence, Marinette took the opportunity. 

 

“Is something wrong? You look like you’ve got other things on your mind.”

Adrien looked at her in surprise over the rim of his beer glass for a second before his face morphed into one of contemplation. He regarded her a moment longer. He took one more quick swig of his beer, and reached to fish something out of his jacket pocket. 

 

Marinette’s breath hitched when she realized the small, black velvet box in his hands was a ring box. He popped the lid open, and examined the contents contemplatively. She swallowed in a vain attempt to clear her suddenly dry throat. 

“I’ve been thinking of proposing.”

 

Before Adrien could say anything else, the waitress came back with the pizza balanced on one arm. Marinette’s eyes stayed glued to the box as the waitress lingered for a moment to see if they needed anything else. Honestly, Marinette was thankful for the interruption, because she simply couldn’t fathom trying to form coherent words at the moment. 

 

Adrien, oblivious to Marinette’s inner turmoil, smiled the waitress off with a thanks. Only once the waitress had moved on to another table, did Adrien turn the ring box around to reveal the shimmering band within. Marinette was so caught up in her thoughts that she missed the first part of what Adrien had been saying.

 

“...in Milan, and I mean I wasn’t completely sure then, or even really when I got back. I mean there was this woman in the elevator and that led to ‘flutters’ which I never felt with Chloe.” He had gotten quieter on that last sentence and Marinette was certain something was squeezing her heart, because  _ she  _ was the woman on the elevator, and by the sounds of it, he had felt the same thing she had when they kissed. “But then, but then those designs were really what made up my mind about Chloe.” He smiled warmly. 

 

Marinette finally tore her gaze away from the ring to gape at Adrien. “The- the designs were what made up your mind?” She asked so quietly she wasn’t completely sure that he could have heard her. 

 

“Well, yeah. I mean I had told Chloe about the book before. I just never thought she was really paying that much attention. But then, she showed me those designs and they were just so personal and special, I just knew that she really cared for me, you know?”

 

The vice that was already around Marinette’s heart tightened to a near suffocating degree as she dropped her gaze down to the ring once more. “Adrien. There’s something I think I should tell you. Well, not think, it’s definitely someth-” A ringtone cut her off. 

 

Adrien quickly returned the ring box to his pocket before pulling out his phone. He checked the screen then looked to Marinette apologetically. Sorry, it’s one of the coordinators for the fundraiser. I’ll just be a second.” 

 

The blond slid out of the booth to talk with the other person on the line. While he was busy Marinette took the opportunity to take a few large gulps of her beer and took out her phone. She quickly sent a text to Alya calling for an emergency sleepover that night. 

 

She quickly slipped her phone back into her pocket as Adrien slid into the booth once again.

“Sorry about that. What was it you wanted to say?” he asked.

“I… Adrien, I… think Chloe will be really happy.”

She could have sworn that the glint in his eyes dimmed ever so slightly, but no, she wouldn’t let her own feelings mess with reality.  _ He loves Chloe not me. He loves Chloe not me. He loves Chloe not me! _

 

*********

 

Soon after, Marinette suggested that they wrap up the evening. She was exhausted after the lack of sleep from the previous night, and she was glad she could use that as an excuse to escape the company of the blond. 

 

As they grabbed their coats and exited the pizzeria. They walked a little ways together as they headed back in the direction of their homes. When they walked by a park, Adrien stopped walking and called her attention to a horse-drawn carriage resting on the side of the road. Before she could protest, he eagerly grabbed her hand and went over to the short Asian man that was tending to the horse. 

 

“Hello,” he greeted the man, bowing his head slightly. 

The man turned to the two and grinned. Marinette saw the knowing look on the man’s face, and could tell that he thought they were a couple. “Hello to you two,” the man returned. She removed her hand from Adrien’s grip as subtlety as she could. 

“How much would it be for a ride?” Adrien continued.

“20 euros for a half hour,” the man replied.

“One ride please, then,” the blond smiled.

“Lovely,” the carriage owner replied. “My name is Master Fu, and this here is Wayzz,” he said while gesturing to the horse.

 

Master Fu turned to get the carriage ready, and Adrien turned to Marinette with a wide grin on his face, that made Marinette’s heart flutter.  _ He loves Chloe. He loves Chloe.  _

 

“Marinette, will you please go on this ride with me? You might know Chloe better than I do. I can’t help but think that this would be the perfect way to propose,” Adrien urged, that damned smile still on his face.

Her mouth popped open, but no words would come out. 

“Please, Marinette. I need your help.”

 

Then just like that her weak will broke again, and she found herself being helped into a romantic horse-drawn carriage by the boy she liked to see if it was a good way for him to propose marriage to someone else.

 

The ride was excruciating. Master Fu has provided a blanket for the two to snuggle up in to keep warm. And it was a small carriage, forcing her and Adrien to be close to each other. Marinette’s cheeks burned the whole time, even though they hardly exchanged any words.

 

Finally, finally, they pulled back to the original spot, and Master Fu opened the door for them to get out. Adrien got out first, and held a hand out to help her once again. In her haste to exit the carriage, and just talk to Alya for a well deserved freak out, she missed the last step and crashed into Adrien’s arms. 

 

He held her firmly, and seemed just as shocked by their sudden closeness as she was. His eyes strayed lower, to what could have been her lips. 

 

_ He loves Chloe not you. He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t like you. It’s just in your head. He chose Chloe not you. _

 

“My purse,” she managed to squeak out before all but tearing herself from his arms, and turning to grab her purse from the carriage. When she turned back to Adrien, his cheeks were painted red, and Marinette berated herself for making him uncomfortable. “It, um … I think the carriage ride is romantic enough. It will do the trick for sure,” she said meekly. 

 

Adrien nodded once slightly, then fell into step with her as they continued off on their previous path again. 

 

Behind them, Master Fu gave the horse a well-deserved carrot and watched the retreating pair as they walked off together.

“True love gets me everytime,Wayzz,” he sighed. 

 

**********

 

Finally, Marinette was in pajamas, had a glass of wine, and Alya was cuddled up next to her on the couch as she recounted the events of the night.

 

“Then he mentioned how the contest designs were what convinced him that Chloe was the woman he wanted to marry, and God, Alya I wanted to tell him. Wanted to grab him by the lapels and shake some sense into him, but the words just died on my lips,” she moaned, popping another chocolate truffle into her mouth. 

 

Alya untangled herself in order to look at Marinette fully. “Mari, sweetheart. You need to tell him.”She held up a hand when the noirette tried to complain. “This is no longer just something that affects you. Even if t was you should still tell him. Those are your designs, and they’re amazing and you should get credit. But it’s no longer just that. This man is about to ruin his life by marrying the wrong person. I’m not going to say that the right woman is definitely you, but there’s no way in hell that it’s Chloe Bourgeois.” She leaned back into her best friend. “He deserves to know.”


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this first scene was actually meant to be at the end of last chapter, but I totally forgot to include it, so I guess I saved y’all from a cliff hanger. You’re welcome?

Adrien woke up in a cold sweat. He had dreamed about that carriage ride again. That romantic carriage ride he had taken with a beautiful, sweet, kind-hearted woman who was  _ not  _ his girlfriend. The girlfriend he had been planning to propose marriage to. 

 

But every single time he even closed his eyes, his brain supplied the image of that instant where he held Marinette close in his arms. Her warm breath fanning across his cold-nipped cheeks. Her sparkling blue eyes wide as she stared straight into his soul as if she knew. As if she knew that his heart was pounding from the proximity, and his chest was filled with a warmth entirely unrelated to shared body heat. As if she knew he was thinking about kissing her. Wanted to know if he would feel flutters just from the slightest touch of those pink lips. His eyes strayed down to them, and he was shocked to realize this wasn’t the first time he had wondered how soft they might be. 

 

But he heard Marinette’s breath catch before she was quickly pulling out of his arms with a muttered excuse. And Adrien remembered that she was not his girlfriend. And she was not the one he had bought the ring for. And he had no right to immediately miss the feeling of her bundled in his arms.

 

God what was wrong with him. And then just a few days before he had kissed another woman entirely, a complete stranger, no less. All the while he had an engagement ring.

 

Adrien groaned and roughly rubbed his eyes before slinging the comforter off, and sitting up to turn on his bedside lamp. He squinted against the sudden harsh light. Opening his nightstand drawer, he retrieved the ring in question as well as his cell phone from the charger. He quickly dialed a number and waited for an answer. He popped the small velvet box open and admired the ring as the phone rang. Someone picked up after the fifth ring.

 

“Hello. Yes, I’d like to inquire about the return policy for an engagement ring.”

 

*********

 

Today was the last day Marinette had to finish up the other two outfits. Tomorrow morning they would be taken to the Grand Paris Hotel where the auction event would be held, courtesy of Chloe’s dad. Tomorrow Marinette would hopefully get to sleep. Tomorrow Adrien would be stressed out by the final details and running of the event. And the day after tomorrow, Marinette would reveal to Adrien the true designer of the three outfits. 

 

As that thought ran through her head, Marinette took her foot off the sewing machine pedal and took a deep breath. Those kinds of thoughts had been swirling in her brain since last night, her few fitful hours of sleep the only break she got. But if she allowed her focus to slip too much, she would end up applying too much pressure to the pedal, and might pucker the delicate fabric of the Christmas Future dress she was working on at the moment. 

 

She had another early start this morning, glancing at her watch she saw that it was just now approaching 6: 30. When she thought about having a third cup of coffee, she was probably more excited than was strictly healthy. She rolled her shoulders slowly before bending over the machine once again to finish up the line she was working on before allowing herself a coffee break. Adrien would probably be arriving to greet her soon, and she wanted to make sure she was as productive as possible before he arrived. 

 

She paused in her stitching once more to check her watch again, immediately checking how long it would be before Adrien made his normal morning appearance. Marinette shook her head. She really needed to get that boy out of her head. Sighing, she took her watch off completely throwing to one of the other work tables. Out of sight out of mind. She wouldn’t think about the time. She wouldn’t think about when Adrien would be showing up to greet her. She would be solely focused on finishing the remaining sewing. 

 

**********

 

As soon as she finished triple checking that the last layer of the skirt was sufficiently secured to the bodice, she slipped the Christmas Future dress over a mannequin and ruffled the layers out allowing her to check the lay of the fabric. As she stepped back to look at it, a knock on the door brought her attention to Adrien strolling into the room. ‘ _ Finally’  _ her mind traitorously whispered.  

 

“Good afternoon,” he greeted.

The designer smiled brightly. “Don’t you mean ‘good morning,” she teased.

The blond stuttered in his steps a few meters from her. “Uh, no,” He checked the time on his watch. “It’s almost four in the afternoon. I had a couple meetings in the morning, so I’m just now… ” he looked up at her with a concerned expression. “When was the last time you ate?”

Marinette frowned as she realized just how long it had been since she put some food into her stomach. 

Adrien quickly tugged his phone out of his pocket and typed out a quick message. “Okay, I’m ordering takeout. Any preferences?”

“Thai?”

He simply nodded, as he kept his attention on his phone. 

 

“Alright,” he said after a minute, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “It’ll be here soon.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind,” she said.

“I see Christmas Future turned out even better than the sketch. Is it all finished?”

Marinette turned her attention back to the spectral Christmas Future dress, making sure that it was symmetrical before affirming with a nod of her head. “All that’s left is the inseams and hemming on the corduroys for Christmas Past, and we’ll be ready for an auction,” she smiled at the prospect of being finished, and returned her gaze to Adrien.

He was looking at her with a fond look in his eyes and a lopsided smile that sent her heart fluttering. “You really are amazing, Marinette. I can’t believe you managed to pull all of this together, especially after Chloe had to leave unexpectedly.”

At the mention of her boss, Marinette sobered, berating herself once again for getting caught up in his presence. Adrien had a girlfriend, and Marinette was going to have to ruin that for him in a couple of days. 

 

Adrien shifted next to her, obviously sensing the sudden tension in the room, but oblivious to the guilt Marinette felt. 

 

Marinette quickly worked to ease the awkwardness that had settled over them. Her eyes searching the room for a change of topic and landing on her purse. She perked up instantly. Adrien picked up on her shift in mood and when she returned her gaze to him, she found he was looking at her with curiosity in his eyes.

 

“I have a surprise for you,” she said, the discomfort dissolving immediately due to the excitement in her voice. She nearly skipped over to her purse, but paused before fishing out his present. She glanced back at him over her shoulder, considering. “Close your eyes,” she instructed. 

 

A toothy grin broke across the blond’s face before closing his eyes obediently. Marinette grinned too and quickly retrieved the surprise from her bag and coming to stand before him once more, closer than before, she unconsciously noted. She took another second to study him. Muscles completely relaxed, trusting. Hair slightly mussed. Golden lashes. Slight stubble. Pale pink lips that she still remembered the feel of... 

 

“Open,” she said, forcing her voice to be louder than a whisper so as not to give her thoughts away.

 

He blinked twice before his eyes focused on the gift presented in her hands. A neat stack of five dvds wrapped up by a glossy red bow. He reverently took the gift from her, their hands lightly touching, sending shocks up her arms. She watched as his eyes scanned the titles,  A Christmas Story, Home Alone, White Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and It’s a Wonderful Life . 

 

“I, um, well, you mentioned that you hadn’t seen any of them before, and well I wanted you to have the experience.” She shrugged, trying her hardest to play this off as a casual gift. That’s what it was after all, but when she went to the store to buy it she debated with herself for fifteen minutes on whether she should go through with it or not. She wasn’t giving it to him with the intent to seduce him, it was merely a friendly gesture, but her feelings made her second guess her actions. Eventually, she decided to go through with it, and now with him in front of her, spring green eyes blown wide she didn’t care if she had made the right choice or not. It was worth it to see that look on his face. 

 

**********

 

When Adrien closed his eyes he certainly didn’t know what to expect. The fact that she had gotten him another surprise was surprising to say the least, but if it was anywhere near as thoughtful as the embroidery she had done the day before he might consider himself to be in over his head when it came to the designer. That last cheeky grin she had thrown over her shoulder alone was enough to make his heart pick up to a gallop. But, he willed himself to stay under control, at least until he could talk to Chloe when she returned, and closed his eyes willingly. 

 

A few moments later he heard he steps draw close, the sound echoing in the otherwise silent room, then, oh god then, he could practically feel her standing in front of him. Her electric presence calling to him, and he had to tense his hands into fists at his sides to keep himself from reaching out for her. 

 

“Open,” her voice called.

And he complied, his eyes immediately snagged on the stack of what looked to be books wrapped up in a neat little ribbon that she held out to him. Once his eyes had adjusted to sight once again, he realized that they weren’t books but dvd’s, a very particular set of dvd’s. And just like that he was transported back to their conversation from a few days ago. 

 

A conversation where they talked about themselves and their families, and he had gotten personal about his mother and his childhood, and she hadn’t shied away from the topic, but taken a genuine interest in what he was saying, a genuine interest in him. And she had remembered what he said about the movies, a stupid side comment he had made, but she had noted it anyway, and gone out of her way to get this gift for him. 

 

Adrien carefully took the gift from her hands, before turning his attention to her face. A slight smile pulled the corners of her lips up, and her eyes, they practically sparkled, and her cheeks were rosy, and she was beautiful. He once again berated himself for wanting her. For wishing that they were in the type of relation that he could kiss her to show his gratitude. God, he wanted to kiss her, and it was then that he truly acknowledge the  _ flutters  _ in his stomach, in his lungs, in his heart. He had flutters for this girl in front of him, flutters he hadn’t felt with Chloe in a long, long time. And before he could stop himself his lips were moving and words were coming out.

 

“Would you watch these with me?” his voice asked.

Marinette’s mouth popped open in surprise, but just as quickly it spread into a smile. “Are you sure, that’s more than ten hours of movie marathoning. You sure you can handle that?” That teasing glint was back in her eyes, and his competitive nature came to the surface in response.

“Oh, I can handle it, Dupain-Cheng. But it sounds like your scared.”

“Not a chance, blondie,” she smirked before turning away. Adrien was glad she was facing the other way as he felt his cheeks burn slightly from the playful nickname. 

 

“But,” her voice called. “I still need to finish up the last couple of lines on the corduroys. I can probably finish in time for the food to get here. Do you wanna set the movies up and then I can meet you?”

“Sounds great. Movie theater’s down the hall on the left,”  he called as he strolled out.

Marinette paused just before sitting in front of the sewing machine to look at Adrien’s retreating form in shock. “Movie theater?” she asked the empty room. 

 

**********

 

Much to her surprise Adrien hadn’t been simply exaggerating. Apparently the Agreste mansion had its very own movie theater built into the first floor. It wasn’t massive, more like a private screening room, but it was definitely luxurious. Plush golden carpets with deep red velvet reclining chairs. Adrien was set up in one of the chairs on the front row, surrounded by take out boxes and several cozy blankets. 

 

The blond was fiddling with the remote trying to get the first movie rolling. He had taken off his blazer, tie, and shoes which were haphazardly thrown on the carpet, so Marinette quickly toed off her own shoes before taking the seat next to him. 

 

“All done?” he asked as he navigated to the DVD’s main menu. 

“Finished and in their garment bags, ready to be transported first thing tomorrow morning,” she replied while pulling a thick woolen blanket over herself. 

 

Adrien glanced over at the nest Marinette had formed around herself. “Cozy?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes. 

The girl simply hummed in contentment and snuggled further down into her blanket. Adrien grabbed a blanket as well and tried to get comfortable, but his belt kept digging into him, so he took it off and carelessly threw it on the ground, glad to be rid of it. 

 

Once they were both comfortably settled and had take out in hand, Adrien started the first movie, and the two began the very long film marathon they had ahead of themselves. 

 

**********

 

As they went through movie after movie, Adrien’s gratefulness for Marinette’s gift only grew. Every film was phenomenal, and he instantly fell in love with the characters. He was especially entranced by It’s a Wonderful Life. And at the end when Clarence finally got his wings, Adrien found himself reaching over to grab a tissue for both Marinette and himself. He was so thankful that he got to partake in something that a normal family did for a Christmas tradition. And it was all Marinette’s doing, sweet, thoughtful, and apparently very tired Marinette.

 

Honestly he couldn’t blame the girl, and he actually felt a little bad for asking her to do a movie marathon with him after the poor girl had been driving herself into the ground in order to get all of the designs done for his fundraiser. So, he really shouldn’t have been surprised when her head landed on his shoulder, her eyes closed and breathing steady, but his heart raced a little anyway. 

 

God, he was pathetic. He really needed to have a conversation with Chloe when she got back. Because after his conversation with Nino, her was certain that what he was feeling with Marinette was past platonic. He had flutters. 

 

Adrien pulled Marinette’s blanket up a little higher and let her stay on his shoulder. She needed the rest after all. He pressed play on the next movie, White Christmas, but he only made it halfway through before his own eyes were dragging closed, and not long after his own head lulled to the side to rest on Marinette’s. 

 

**********

 

Even before Chloe arrived at the Agreste mansion she knew something was up. She had called Adrien no less than six times, and he had yet to even respond with a single text message. When she arrived to the luxurious house, she was put on higher alert when it was one of the servants that buzzed her in instead of her boyfriend himself. But when she called his name with no answer, she was officially angry. She had spent the last three days getting her nose corrected for  _ him  _ and he didn’t even bother to answer her. She was his girlfriend, he should be elated at the mere idea of getting to see her again, especially after he had been gone for so long. He better be ready to grovel at her feet at this point, after all they were to be engaged not long from now. 

 

But when she stopped by the sewing room to verify that Marinette had done her job and saw that said girl’s purse was still sitting in a chair, Chloe’s anger turned into a slow burning ire. She ducked out of the sewing room, and headed further down the hall.

 

As she opened the door to the movie theater, she sneered at the sight that greeted her. A trail of discarded clothes led to her boyfriend and he employee snuggled up together with a mess of take out boxes surrounding them. 

 

It wasn’t enough clothes to indicate anything had happened, and of course Adrien would never even consider sleeping with someone the likes of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but Chloe wasn’t an idiot. She watched as Marinette smiled in her sleep before unconsciously snuggling closer to Adrien, and Chloe hope she enjoyed that smile, because it would be her last, if she had any say in the matter. 

 

She pulled her shoulders back and crossed her arms over her chest before clearing her throat loudly. Marinette startled to consciousness, and he movements dragged Adrien slowly out of his dreams, rubbing his eyes lazily as he tried to orient himself. Marinette got herself together more quickly and practically flung herself out of the theater chair in an attempt to get away from Adrien.

 

“Ms. Bourgeois,” she exclaimed while straightening the wrinkles out of her clothes as best she could. 

“Marinette,” she acknowledged, letting venom drip from her voice.

 

Chloe flicked her gaze back to her boyfriend who had just managed to stand up. He was running his fingers through his hair as he approached her. 

 

“Chloe. So glad to have you back,” he leaned into kiss her on the cheek, but Chloe turned her head so that his lips landed on her own instead. He pulled back a little too fast, but he tried to cover it up, by saying, “We missed you.”

“I could tell,” she replied curtly. 

 

The young man nodded his head slowly before making the excuse of needing a shower as a means to leave. After he grabbed his clothes off the floor and once he was out the door, and she was sure he was out of earshot, Chloe turned her attention to the sheepish girl before her. 

 

“Well, I’m gone for a few days, and you decide to make a move on my boyfriend?” 

“No, no. It wasn’t like that at all, we were just watchin-” 

“I don’t want to hear it,” she cut her off. Chloe glanced around at the scattered takeout leftovers. “Clean this mess up, then go home.” 

She looked like she wanted to argue, but she nodded her head in submission. 

 

Chloe huffed before turning on her heel and heading up the stairs to Adrien’s room, she needed to do some damage control. 

 

As she entered the spacious room, she could hear the shower running, and the radio playing some loud music. Deciding to wait for him to finish, and allowing herself a minute to formulate how this conversation was going to go, she settled on his bed. 

 

But her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Adrien’s phone going off. Deciding to take a message for him she answered. 

 

“Adrien Agreste’s phone.” 

 

“Yes, I can take a message.”

 

“The return policy? On an engagement ring?”

 

“Actually, Monsieur Agreste, won’t be needing to return the ring.”

 

“Yes, that is correct. Thank you for the call.” 

 

“Mhmm. Good bye.” 

 

She set the phone back on the side table before her gaze flicked to the bathroom door. Shower and music still on. Chloe walked over to his dresser where he had laid his blazer. She checked both of the pockets and came up empty. She rummaged through his sock drawer without success again. She heard the shower cut off and cursed before hurrying back over to the night stand where she found the small velvet box tucked safely in the drawer. Snatching it quickly she left the room before he could know she was ever there.

 

**********

 

It had taken Marinette a few minutes to calm down enough to start getting the take out leftovers in a pile to be thrown away, just as she was starting to settle into the task, the sound of high heels clicking down the hall brought her back to high alert. 

 

As expected, Chloe entered not that long after and came to stand in front of the other girl. She began inspecting her nails on her left hand, her actions drawing attention to the glittering diamond ring that Marinette had seen before.

 

“Adrien, just proposed to me,” the blonde started, in a tone that implied that it was the most obvious turn of events in the world. 

Marinette’s heart swooped, but she quickly drew her thoughts together, just trying to preserve her job at this point, if not her heart. “That’s wonderful. Congratulati-”

“Oh shut up!” her boss snapped. “I picked you up out of that miserable theater. I gave you the opportunity to make connections, to have a future in your little design career. I have given you everything. You should be bending at the knee after everything I have done for you. But then I’m gone for one week. And in that time you decide to try to seduce my fiancé!”

Marinette’s jaw dropped in horror. “No, no. It wasn’t like that at all.”

“Oh no? Well then can you explain why you were practically in his lap this morning when I returned home?”

The poor girl’s mouth worked, trying to form a suitable response.

“Well your little tempress act didn’t work. Clean this mess up, then go home. You are not to come back here again, and you are not welcome to the charity event. You’re fired.”

“No! Ms. Bourgeois, please. Nothing happened. Look, you got the ring. You won. He loves you! Please, you can’t do this.”

“No, you listen. I am the person that can break you. If I ever see you near my fiancé again, I will personally insure that you never work in even the smallest fashion boutique. Clean this up and leave.”

 

And with that finality, Marinette was left alone with a pile of old thai food and tears stinging at her eyes. Looking at the take out containers with all the frustration from the unfairness of the situation simmering in her gaze, Marinette resolutely left them there and left to grab her purse and coat before leaving the Agreste mansion and one particular Agreste behind forever. 

 

**********

 

Admittedly, it had been the least relaxing shower Adrien had ever taken in his life. Instead of the hot water calming him down, it only served to give him time to stew over how on Earth he was supposed to break up with Chloe, a decidedly very angry Chloe. And then having to confess to Marinette who he had only known for a week. He really couldn’t believe it was only a week, and that only made him wonder if he should wait a while longer before asking her out. And then on top of everything there was still the matter of the charity event that was  _ that night.  _

 

But one thing at a time he supposed. Chloe first. Luckily for him, she was sitting on his bed waiting for him when he came out of the bathroom. He was glad he had the foresight to change in the bathroom, this was really a conversation that he needed to be fully dressed for. 

 

Chloe looked up at him as he walked further into his room, and the sweet smile she had dancing across her face, only made his gut twist in guilt for what he was about to do. She rose when he was within ten feet, and practically threw herself into his arms. He caught her reluctantly, but was quick to hold her at arm’s length to look into her face. She deserved that much at least, after how she found him and Marinette that morning. 

 

“Listen, Chlo,” he started, but got no further, as she interrupted.

“Oh Adrien, of course I’ll marry you!” she exclaimed. 

The young man was so shocked by her words that his grip on her loosened enough for her to surge forward once again and hug him as she continued. “I found the ring by chance when I was looking for something, and of course, of course, I’ll marry you. I love you so much,” she said as she pressed kisses against his throat. 

“ Wait-” he tried, but was cut off again.

“Oh! We were made for each other, and we are going to be so happy together. Oh what great timing this is. Some good news, after being away from you for so long, then Marinette quitting just now, but finally some good news. Oh, Adrikins!” 

Adrien’s brain that had stopped functioning quickly kicked back into motion at the mention of Marinette’s name. “Marinette quit?” he echoed emptily. 

“Oh yes,” Chloe said, leaning back enough to flick hand nonchalantly. A hand that he couldn’t help but notice had a glittering ring on it. “Something about going back to her roots at the theater or something, you know how designers are.”

Adrien’s brow creased together, she hadn’t mentioned anything about wanting to quit this week. But, she did seem awfully flustered this morning, maybe he had made her uncomfortable, and all the glances her caught from her weren’t ones of affection after all. God, of course not. It had only been a  _ week.  _ How could he have read her so wrong. 

“Oh,” Chloe’s voice cut through his thoughts once more, “but it doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is that you love me and I love you! I can hardly wait! I’m going to call daddy right away, and have his assistant look into venues for us.”

 

With that, she skipped out of the room, and Adrien too caught up in all that had just developed, watched her go with a blank expression. How could things have gone so wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How indeed, Adrien. How indeed.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year and a late Merry Christmas. This is the final chapter. Thank you all so much for reading and leaving kudos and comments!

It had been a long day to say the least, and there was still the Miraculous Theater’s opening night to get through. Luckily, Alya had the day off due to the evening she would be working to cover the Theater’s first performance. So, when her best friend showed up unannounced that morning, tears already flowing down her cheeks, Alya hadn’t wasted a second in buzzing her up and grabbing some spoons and a tub of ice cream from the freezer before snuggling into the couch and letting Marinette recount everything that had happened.

At the end of her story Marinette seemed to have calmed down a little bit, but Alya was positively livid. She was ready to break Chloe Bourgeois’s nose _again,_ but even that was gentle compared to what she was going to do to the boy that had broken her girl’s heart.

But as much as she wanted to charge into battle against those that had hurt her friend, Marinette needed her there with her, comforting her more than anything else at the moment. So Alya hugged her fiercely and murmured encouraging words. And they remained like that, stray tears soaking into her shoulder until Marinette finally falls asleep.

Alya carefully removes herself from underneath her friend, making sure that her friend was comfortable and tucked under her blanket before retreating to the bedroom, where Nino would probably be in the middle of getting ready to go to the theater for final checks before the performance that night.

“Hey,” she calls when she finds him brushing his teeth in the adjoining bathroom. “I thought you said Adrien was a good guy? What’s up with him leading Mari on, only to propose to Ebenezer Bourgeois?”

Nino gave her a confused look, and quickly spit into the sink before replying. “Wait, he actually proposed? I didn’t know that. We talked a few days ago, and he said he was having doubts, like serious doubts. I’m honestly surprised the dude went with it. Are you sure? Bro hasn’t even texted me about it. I’m certain he would have said something.”

Alya hummed in consideration. She leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. She did trust Nino’s judgement, and honestly the timing for everything seemed a little fishy to her. “Something’s off,” she finally announces. “I don’t know what happened this morning, but there has to be something more than what Marinette said. And I’ll bet Chloe’s the one who’s responsible for it.”

“Mmm. I wouldn’t put it above her. She’s already blackmailing Marinette,” he replied, watching the gears turn in his girlfriend’s head.

“Hey. Adrien is supposed to go to the opening night performance at Miraculous tonight, right?”

“Yeah. Unsurprisingly, his old man is skipping, and making Adrien go in his place. Why?”

“Do you think you could get ahold of a maintenance key for tonight?”

Nino’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve got that scheming glint in your eyes. Am I gonna like where this is going?”

“It should give both of our friends the best shot at being happy,” she replied, a new determination in her eyes.

“I’m all ears.”

 

**********

 

Naturally, Adrien had expected this day to be difficult, but he had no idea how much of an understatement that was. He had expected to be stressed with all the last-minute details and emergencies that come with organizing a large event. He had expected to make it through the long day and then he could pass out.

Adrien had successfully made it through all the confusing mess of the final preparations and was now sitting in the front row watching the outfits being auctioned off one by one. Turn out to the event was better than expected, and the fundraiser was already shaping up to make enough money to make his father impressed.

On the surface everything seemed to be going really well. But there was also a big problem, a problem that was currently clinging to his hand. Chloe. Oh, god. He had been planning to break up with her tomorrow, and now the after party for the fundraiser was somehow doubling as their engagement party.

At least during the auction, he didn’t have to interact with her too much. Etiquette required one stay mostly silent for these things, which left him to try to figure out how the hell he was going to get himself out of this mess he was in, how he was supposed to break up with his now apparent fiancée.

As the next set of outfits were brought onto the stage, Adrien’s thoughts were brought to a halt. Chloe’s designs. The final outfits. The featured items of the auction. Adrien had to admit they were very impressive. A murmur spread through the crowd as the designs were introduced and the Christmas Carol theme was introduced. The bidding was opened, and many paddles raised. It continued on for a while, buyers fighting each other and jacking the price ever higher.

When the highest bidder was finally decided the outfits were taken of stage and the guests began chattering and standing in preparation for the party that would be taking place until it was time to head to the Miraculous Theater for the performance. Adrien, however, stayed in his seat, watching the outfits be carried off stage.

As he watched, the skirt of the Christmas Present skirt was jostled around, revealing a quick glimpse of the embroidered quote that Marinette had hidden in the petticoat. The thoughtfulness of the gesture still made a smile come to his lips. And the movies she gave him as well. Not because she was trying to get on his good side, for personal gain, but just because she thought he would enjoy it.

Surely, she wouldn’t have done that for just anyone. Especially not for someone she hates. God, how could he have ever thought she hated him. She obviously paid enough attention to him  that she was able to pick out meaningful things that she knew he would appreciate. It had only been a short time, but he had felt so comfortable he had opened up a lot to her, and he could safely say that she was one of the people that knew him best.

His musings were interrupted by an abrupt squeeze to his bicep, and he turned to find Chloe, clinging to him.

“Isn’t this so lovely, Adrikins?” She paused to take a sip of her champagne. Adrien had been so lost in thought, he barely noticed being dragged from the auction room, to the main party room by the blonde. “Not quite as extravagant as I would have wanted for our engagement party, but with such short notice, I think it ended up being rather nice.”

“This is first and foremost a charity event, Chlo. And if I recall, I never actually asked you to marry me.”

The woman bats her eyelashes innocently, looking around to make sure no one had heard him. “That’s alright, Adrien. I forgive you.”

“You forgive me?” he exclaimed.

“Yes. Besides, I rather like the way it happened. The diamond could be a bit bigger, but we can have it reset.”

As she goes in for another sip of champagne, Adrien is left staring at her as if for the first time. How could this be the same woman that creating those designs that were so personal and meaningingful? Unless…

“Hey, Chlo. Those designs truly were amazing. They sold far higher than any other piece. What did you say was the inspiration behind them again?”

“Stop being silly, Adrien. I got the idea from your father’s book. I remembered how important it was to you, of course.”

“Ah, yes. How silly of me,” he said as he unhooked her arm from his elbow and instead took her hand in between both of his.

He stares into her eyes and smiles. She leans forward for a kiss, but stops once she feels the ring slip off her finger.

“But, you know. It was my mother’s book.” He examined the ring he was now holding between his fingers. “You didn’t design those outfits, did you? Marinette did.” He carefully pocketed the ring before looking back at a stunned Chloe and leaning in close to whisper in her ear. “That’s it. We’re through, Chloe. I’ll keep up appearances for tonight for the sake of the fundraiser, but I’m not dealing with this anymore.”

With that he spun on his heel and marched to the other side of the room to engage in conversation with anyone else.

 

***********

 

Marinette was having a rough time. She had spent the last week driving herself into the ground in order to finish the outfits that she didn’t even get to see at the auction event. But at least there was the silver lining that she wouldn’t have to see Adrien.

God, she had been so wrong about him. Chloe had played him like a fiddle and he had fallen for it. Marinette would sulk about losing her job and about not getting to network at the auction event, but she certainly wouldn’t be sulking over him. Oh, that sounded nice. Staying cuddled under a pile of blankets with another pint of ice cream.

As she went to the fridge to find another container of ice cream, Alya closed the freezer door before she could pick what she wanted.

“Hey!”

“Hello to you too,” the journalist responded easily. “Nino just left to head to the theater. I’m leaving in an hour and you’re coming with me.”

“What! Alya, I don’t want to go anywhere.”

“No, I’m not taking that. You are going with me then we can go to the after party, and you are going to have fun.”

Marinette brow creased in displeasure, still ready to argue.

“Plus, this way I can monitor your ice cream intake,” her friend continued.

The designer considered for a few more seconds before finally agreeing. “Fine, but I need to borrow something to wear.”

 

**********

 

Adrien is uncomfortable. The auction went great, but he’s really starting to regret “keeping up appearances” with Chloe. Honestly, and empty seat next to him would be one hundred times better than the sulking blonde who was angrily nursing a bloody mary next to him at the moment. They had made it to the theater and were settled in the personal box the theater had provided.

Scanning the crowd in the theater yet again, Adrien’s eyes roam the stage where they land on a very familiar person beckoning to him from one of the wings. Nino is standing there, looking at him and using one hand to gesture Adrien to come down. The blond looks behind him, wondering if there’s someone else that he needs. Finding no one else, he turns back to his best friend and squints. Nino visibly sighs, then uses both of his hands, moving them more urgently and mouthing words that Adrien has no hope of understanding.

Finally getting the message, Adrien excuses himself quickly before making his way backstage.

As soon as he’s in the backstage area, Adrien immediately begins searching for Nino, hoping to find out what on Earth could be wrong. By the time he had finished checking the entire side of the stage he had seen Nino on, he was beginning to get a little worried. What could his friend possibly need _him_ for?

Adrien turned to cross the stage and start looking on the opposite wing, only to nearly trip on his own feet when he saw someone he had not even hoped he would be lucky enough to see so soon.

But there she was, wearing a fitted knee length dress, her hair in curls, and the familiar sight of pins sticking out of the corner of her mouth. She was on the opposite side of the stage between two leg curtains, fixing the bejeweled headpiece that one of the ballerinas was wearing.

His panic over his best friend momentarily subdued, Adrien immediately started towards her, but just as he had made it halfway across the stage to her he was being tugged by his arm, and suddenly Chloe was in front of him, blocking his path to Marinette.

 

**********

 

Being at the theater seemed to be doing wonders for Marinette. Of course, she was extremely reluctant at first, but seeing all of the stage hands she used to work with brightened her mood considerably. And a couple last minute costume emergencies certainly helped to take her mind off of certain… things.

But she wasn’t thinking about him. She was totally focused on the headdress that wouldn’t stay in place. She must have put a thousand bobby pins before she was sufficiently satisfied that it wouldn’t fly off when the ballerina was dancing.

The dancer thanked heir profusely before hurrying off to finish stretching. Marinette smiled contentedly and turned her gaze to look over the preshow hustle and bustle that she so often missed.

Then she saw it. A couple, _the_ couple, that were backstage for some unknown reason. Adrien and his fiancée, Chloe, the one he had chosen. The young man’s brow was furrowed which seemed to indicate that the two were having a disagreement, an indication of how their married life would be, Marinette thought bitterly. Adrien tried to step around Chloe, and that was the moment their gazes locked.

“You,” she started, unsure exactly what to say, but knowing she needed to start before she lost her nerve. “You really chose her? She has lied to you over and over again. You really thought she could come up with those designs?”

Somewhat to his credit he looked a little sheepish at that, but the designer had more to say. “If that kiss in the elevator meant anything to you then I don’t see how you could possibly ask her to marry you. And if that kiss meant nothing to you then even Chloe deserves better.”

Adrien’s jaw had popped open, and his jaw seemed to be moving, trying to form words, but she wasn’t finished yet. Turning to Chloe she continued.

“And you. I’m glad you fired me.” Adrien cast an accusatory glare at Chloe, but Marinette missed it as she continued. “Exposing you for what you really are would be worth more than getting a job in any fashion house. So go ahead and make good on your petty little threats, but don’t expect me to take it lying down anymore.”

The couple stood in silence, one with a calculating sneer, the other with a furrowed brow. The adrenaline coursing through Marinette was building up fast, and the familiar sting behind her eyes forced her to spin on her heel and march away.

“Congratulations on the engagement,” she threw over her shoulder.

 

**********

 

Revelation after revelation was swirling through Adrien’s head. First, Marinette was the real designer. Then, Chloe had actually fired Marinette instead of her quitting voluntarily. And Chloe had apparently been extorting and blackmailing Marinette for who knows how long. Then, to top it all off, Marinette was actually Ladybug, the girl he had kissed in the elevator.

God, he had kissed Marinette and hadn’t even recognized her. And worse still, she had to deal with that knowledge. And now she was running away again. He had to make it right. He didn’t know exactly how, but he would never forgive himself if he didn’t at least try. Without a word to Chloe, he took off after Marinette.

As he rounded another corner, he saw Marinette at the end of a hallway about to get on an elevator. He picked up his pace to a near sprint, calling out her name. She looked up just as the doors slid closed. He frantically pushed the button to get the doors to open, and thank every deity there was that the doors opened for him.

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and cautiously stepped onto the elevator and stood next to a shocked and teary-eyed Marinette. He silently took the pocket square from his breast pocket and handed it to her as a handkerchief. She took is hesitantly as the doors slid closed once more.

As the elevator started its descent, Adrien took a second to collect his thoughts before turning to Marinette.

“It did mean something to me. The kiss, I mean. It made me question everything with Chloe. And then meeting you, well, that just about destroyed everything I thought I knew. You were sweet and kind and _genuine_ and, and gorgeous. That night after the horse carriage. When I caught you, I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I saw you Marinette, but even then, I didn’t see enough. Could you ever forgive me for being so blind?”

“Well,” she said, turning towards him, “you did hurt me, Adrien.”

“I know, and Marinette, I am so, so sorr-“ A finger landing on his lips cut him off instantly.

“Looks like, you’ll just have to make it up to me somehow,” she said as a smiled curled her lips.

He grinned and brought one of his hands up to her cheek. The hand holding her finger to his lips slid around to the back of his neck. She pushed up onto her toes, and just as his eyes were sliding closed, the elevator jolted to a stop, making Marinette stumble and land on his chest.

He chuckled slightly as he pulled her chin up to meet her gaze once more. “Looks like fate,” he whispered.

She giggled slightly. “Maybe more like meddlesome friends,” she replied before finally closing the remaining sliver of distance between them.

 


End file.
